ALMA view of the motions of material in the shell around U Antliae

This image was created from ALMA data on the unusual red carbon star U Antliae and its surrounding shell of material. The colours show the motion of the glowing material in the shell along the line of sight to the Earth. Blue material lies between us and the central star, and is moving towards us. Red material around the edge is moving away from the star, but not towards the Earth.

For clarity this view does not include the material on the far side of the star, which is receding from us in a symmetrical manner.