A nebula with a bright star at its center, casting light through swirls of pale orange, blue, and white cosmic dust, its prominent diffraction spikes quartering the image. Surrounding stars dot the blackness of space, with diffraction spikes of varying lengths radiating from each.

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Wonder of Science (wonderofscience@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 31-Dec-2023 10:34:24 JST Wonder of Science

The star RS Puppis captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. This Cepheid variable star changes brightness by almost a factor of five every 40 days, resulting in a "light echo" on the surrounding gas and dust.

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