Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2023 April 28
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                      Runaway Star Alpha Camelopardalis
                       Image Credit: [3]André Vilhena

   Explanation: Like a ship plowing through cosmic seas, runaway star
   [4]Alpha Camelopardalis has produced this graceful arcing bow wave or
   bow shock. The massive supergiant star moves at over 60 kilometers per
   second through space, compressing the [5]interstellar material in its
   path. [6]At the center of this nearly 6 degree wide view, Alpha Cam is
   about 25-30 times as massive as the Sun, 5 times hotter (30,000
   kelvins), and over 500,000 times brighter. About 4,000 light-years away
   in the long-necked constellation [7]Camelopardalis, the star also
   produces a strong stellar wind. Alpha Cam's bow shock stands off about
   10 light-years from the star itself. What set this [8]star in motion?
   Astronomers have long thought that Alpha Cam was flung out of a nearby
   cluster of young hot stars due to gravitational interactions with other
   cluster members or perhaps by the supernova explosion of a massive
   companion star.

                     Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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    Authors & editors: [20]Robert Nemiroff ([21]MTU) & [22]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([23]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [24]Specific rights apply.
              [25]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [26]ASD at [27]NASA / [28]GSFC,
                         [29]NASA Science Activation
                           & [30]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2304/AlphaCamelopardis_s3100.png
   3. https://www.astrobin.com/users/AndreVilhena/
   4. http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/alphacam.html
   5. http://www-ssg.sr.unh.edu/ism/what1.html
   6. https://www.astrobin.com/btpfxw/B/
   7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camelopardalis
   8. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/WISE/news/wise20110310.html
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230427.html
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  13. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  18. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=230428
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230429.html
  20. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  21. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  22. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  23. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  25. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  26. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  27. https://www.nasa.gov/
  28. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  29. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  30. http://www.mtu.edu/