Fact Sheet
Kaboom!
Shells of gas and dust wrap around the star Rho Cassiopeia after a giant eruption observed in 2000 in this artist's illustration. The "hypergiant" star is one of the largest and brightest in the galaxy, so it is visible to the unaided eye across 10,000 light-years of space. It has erupted several times in the last 60 years, expelling massive amounts of material into space. The star could blast itself to bits as a supernova in as little as 50,000 years, astronomers say. [David A. Aguilar, Harvard-Smithsonian CfA]
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