esahubble_heic1323a December 17th, 2013
Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)-Hubble/Europe CollaborationAcknowledgment: H. Bond (STScI and Penn State University)
This Hubble image shows RS Puppis, a type of variable star known as a Cepheid variable. As variable stars go, Cepheids have comparatively long periods RS Puppis, for example, varies in brightness by almost a factor of five every 40 or so days. RS Puppis is unusual; this variable star is shrouded by thick, dark clouds of dust enabling a phenomenon known as a light echo to be shown with stunning clarity. These Hubble observations show the ethereal object embedded in its dusty environment, set against a dark sky filled with background galaxies.
Provider: Hubble Space Telescope | ESA
Image Source: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic1323a/
Curator: ESA/Hubble, Garching bei München, None, Germany
Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Detailed color mapping information coming soon...
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