NASA's Hubble telescope spots star spitting flaming 'cannonballs' into space

Oct 7th 2016 12:33PM
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When one gazes up at the stars, space can seem like such a quiet and tranquil place, but the view provided by NASA's Hubble Telescope often reveals the universe's more volatile side.
For example, a star some 1,200 light-years away was recently spotted spewing out gaseous, insanely hot orbs measuring about twice the size of Mars.
At least, that's the predominant theory.
The blobs were seen in the vicinity of V Hydrae, a red dwarf so far into its death throes it couldn't possibly have created such a powerful display.
Astronomers surmise that the dying body has a companion star hiding somewhere nearby, and that fiery orb is responsible for the plasma ball activity.
In that scenario, the companion runs on an elliptical orbit that at times runs fairly close to the red dwarf.
When passing, the living star sucks up the matter its dying mate is releasing, which results in the formation of a massive gas bubble launching pad.
Experts believe this activity has been going on for the past 400-or-so years.
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