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MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for takyon

The eruption of neighboring superstar Eta Carinae over 170 years ago is fascinating researchers and setting records for the fastest jettisoned gas from a stellar outburst.

Approximately 170 years ago, a stellar eruption sped away from our massive (and incredibly unstable) neighboring superstar Eta Carinae. Now, a team from the University of Arizona in conjunction with NASA has determined this event holds the record for the fastest jettisoned gas ever measured from a star -- without the star self-destructing.

The energy from the blast would be equivalent to that of a traditional supernova explosion, events that often leave behind only the corpse of a star. However, this double star system stayed relatively intact.

For the last seven years, University of Arizona's Nathan Smith and the Space Telescope Science Institute's Armin Rest determined how powerful the blast was by looking at echoes of light surrounding Eta Carinae.

Source: https://interestingengineering.com/historys-fastest-jettisoned-gas-from-stellar-outburst-discovered-from-neighboring-superstar

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