R Aquarii as seen in 1997

This image shows a chaotic and fascinating binary star system named R Aquarii, as seen in 1997 by the Nordic Optical Telescope on the island of La Palma, Spain. In the 15 years since this image was taken the system has been observed many more times by other telescopes, including ESO’s Very Large Telescope, and has been seen to be expanding and evolving in shape.

An image from 2012 can be seen here.

Credit:

T. Liimets et al./ESO

About the Image

Id:potw1850b
Type:Observation
Release date:10 December 2018, 06:00
Size:1873 x 1166 px

About the Object

Name:R Aquarii
Type:Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Binary
Distance:1000 light years
Constellation:Aquarius
Category:Stars

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Coordinates

Position (RA):23 43 49.60
Position (Dec):-15° 17' 11.67"
Field of view:5.99 x 3.73 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 0.1° left of vertical

Colours & filters

BandWavelengthTelescope
Optical
OII
372 nmNordic Optical Telescope
ALFOSC