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The Most Mind-Blowing Space Spirals: Photos

We’ve all heard of supernovae, but what are “recurrent novae”? In the case of the binary star system RS Ophiuchi, a small but dense white dwarf star orbits with a large, puffy red giant that is shedding huge quantities of matter. This matter is blasted into space in the form of a strong stellar wind, forming a spiral. Interestingly, in this star system, the white dwarf captures some of the gas from its companion star, gradually accumulating it. Once the gas reaches a critical mass and temperature, a massive explosion occurs, wiping out the expanding spiral. The process then repeats every 20 years or so.

In 2010, the Hubble Space Telescope imaged a ghostly pinwheel spiral surrounding a binary star system called LL Pegasi. This bizarre cosmic phenomenon is caused by one of the stars dying, venting huge amounts of gas and dust into space. As the stars orbit one another every 800 years, the material expands into space like water being sprayed from a spinning garden sprinkler.

Meet R Sculptoris, a dying star that is shedding its outer layers of gas, generating a beautiful spiral of radio emissions. This amazing sight was captured by the newly commissioned Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) in the Chilean desert. Although rare, this kind of space spiral isn’t unprecedented. In fact, there have been several spirals seen in recent years that have excited, spooked, but, above all, awed onlookers — here are a few of the most memorable.

It’s all true…

Best Space Pictures of the Week

1. Wow! Spectacular Sun Photos Catch Colossal Solar Storm in Action

Huge string-like filaments of plasma leaped from the surface of the sun recently, and NASA satellites caught the scene on film. [Full Story]

2. NASA’s Dawn Spacecraft Says Goodbye to Giant Asteroid Vesta

NASA’s Dawn probe has left the asteroid Vesta to begin a new journey to the dwarf planet Ceres. [Full Story]

3. Strange Star in Nearby Cluster Resists Aging

A new image from ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile shows the spectacular globular star cluster Messier 4. [Full Story]

4. Northern Lights Blaze Up After Big Sun Storm

Skywatchers around the world were wowed by the northern lights show produced by a recent solar storm. [Full Story]

5. Hubble Telescope Sees Two Galaxies in Cosmic Dance

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