Usually, stars create more irregular shapes as they end their burning cycle

Jul 7, 2012 08:43 GMT  ·  By
Camelopardalis, a dying star, is currently producing a nearly perfect gas shell
   Camelopardalis, a dying star, is currently producing a nearly perfect gas shell

Astronomers operating the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have just released this new image of an object called Camelopardalis (U Cam). This is, in fact, a star that is nearing the end of its burning cycle, and is currently producing a nearly perfect sphere of gas as a result.

The star is located at the center of the image, and is depicted in bright white. Shades of maroon, gray and blue depict the outlying gas cloud, which astronomers believe is formed at regular intervals. They explain that the structure appears every time helium layers inside the star begin nuclear fusion.

One of the most interesting aspects of this particular object is that it's a carbon-rich star, which means that its atmosphere contains a lot more carbon than oxygen. Structures of this type oftentimes lose a lot of their mass through intense stellar winds, on account of their low surface gravity.

Located in the constellation of Camelopardalis (The Giraffe), near the North Celestial Pole, U Cam is in fact a lot smaller than it appears. NASA astronomers say that the actual object could fit inside a single pixel in this image. The excessive light it generates saturated Hubble's detectors for this effect.