Dying A Beautiful Death

The red giant AFGL 3068 is dying a beautiful death. Like all red giants, as they expand they spew their outer layers into space in a spherical shape. What’s unique about AFGL3068 however, is that it’s actually a binary star — two stars orbiting each other. Due to the orbits of the two stars, the material that’s ejected isn’t able to expand into a sphere, but in this amazingly perfect (and awesomely huge at 3 trillion kilometers!) spiral.

Look for yourself:

(Click image to embiggerify)

Thanks Hubble!