Hubble image archive
Artist's Illustration of Scenario for Plasma Ejections from V Hydrae
This four-panel graphic illustrates how the binary-star system V Hydrae is launching balls of plasma into space.Panel 1 shows the two stars orbiting each other. One of the stars is nearing the end of its life and has swelled in size, becoming a red giant.In panel 2, the smaller s...
- Date
- Jan 1, 2016
- Mission
- Hubble Space Telescope
- Archive ID
- hubblesite-images-2016-34-3890-image
This four-panel graphic illustrates how the binary-star system V Hydrae is launching balls of plasma into space.
Panel 1 shows the two stars orbiting each other. One of the stars is nearing the end of its life and has swelled in size, becoming a red giant.
In panel 2, the smaller star's orbit carries the star into the red giant's expanded atmosphere. As the star moves through the atmosphere, it gobbles up material from the red giant, which settles into a disk around the star.
The buildup of material reaches a tipping point and is eventually ejected as blobs of hot plasma along the star's spin axis, shown in panel 3.
This ejection process is repeated every eight years, the time it takes for the orbiting star to make another pass through the bloated red giant's envelope, shown in panel 4.
Credits
NASA, ESA, and R. Sahai (JPL);Artist's Illustration Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Feild (STScI)
Image Details
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | V Hydrae, V Hya |
| Object Description | Carbon Star, Variable Star |
| R.A. Position | 10h 51m 37.2s |
| Dec. Position | -21° 15' 00" |
| Constellation | Hydra |
| Distance | 1,200 light-years (roughly 400 parsecs) |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | Data were provided through HST proposals , , , , , and : R. Sahai (JPL), C. Barnbaum (Valdosta State Univ.), G. Knapp (Princeton Univ.), M. Morris (UCLA), J. Krist (JPL), and K. Young (SAO). |
| Instrument | HST>STIS spectroscopy |
| Exposure Dates | Jan. 2002; Dec. 2002; Jan. 2004; July 2011; Jul. 2012; and Jul. 2013 (Exposure time: Several exposures, 1 - 914 seconds) |
| Filters | Gratings: G430M (419 nm), G750M (658 nm) |
Downloads
Source
Image and source material are credited to the official mission archive linked below.
View on NASA.gov