NASA has captured images of a massive, speeding star that is leaving a streak of red in its path.
Called "runaway stars," these celestial bodies can stir things up as they twinkle through the Milky Way at high speeds, according to a report from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory with the California Institute of Technology.
Astronomers have named this particular runaway star Kappa Cassiopeiae, or HD 2905. Whizzing around space at 2.5 million mph, Kappa Cassiopeiae is substantially faster than its neighboring stars.
In the NASA image, a striking swath of red can be seen streaming in the star's path, a phenomenon known as a "bow shock," something that "can often be seen in front of the fastest, most massive stars in the galaxy." The red arc visible in the photo is created about 4 light years ahead of this star.
"Bow shocks form where the magnetic fields and wind of particles flowing off a star collide with the diffuse, and usually invisible, gas and dust that fill the space between stars," NASA said. "How these shocks light up tells astronomers about the conditions around the star and in space."
Stars that move more slowly also have bow shocks, but they are invisible at nearly every wavelength of light.
For Kappa Cassiopeiae, the bow shock is seen as a distinct red color. Astronomers have hypothesized that the red filaments in a bow shock could be visible signs of the magnetic field.
Because magnetic fields are totally invisible, scientists have to look for "chance encounters" like bow shocks to try to view their force at work interacting with particles and gas in space.
While Kappa Cassiopeiae is visible to the naked eye, its vividly red bow shock can only be viewed with infared technology.
See Now: OnePlus 6: How Different Will It Be From OnePlus 5?
