"Vampire Star" --Is It Poised to Erupt into One of the Most Violent Events in the Universe?

ESO’s Very Large Telescope captured the first time-lapse movie of a rare shell ejected by a “vampire star." The gas-sucking star is part of a double star system known as V445 in the constellation of Puppis ("the Stern") that is devouring part of a companion star looks to be a ticking time bomb.

It appears that this double star system (image below, lower left) is a prime candidate to be one of the long-sought progenitors of the exploding stars known as Type Ia supernovae, critical for studies of dark energy. In November 2000, this system underwent a nova outburst, becoming 250 times brighter than before and ejecting a large quantity of matter into space.

Read More: http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2011/11/vampire-star-is-it-poised-to-erupt-into-one-of-the-most-violent-events-in-the-universe.html