Mira's tail discovered by NASA

[Ivan Seeking]

August 15, 2007: Astronomers using a NASA space telescope, the Galaxy Evolution Explorer, have spotted an amazingly long comet-like tail behind a star streaking through space. The star, named Mira after the Latin word for "wonderful," has been a favorite of astronomers for about 400 years, yet this is the first time the tail has been seen.

...Nothing like this has ever been seen before around a star. [continued]

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/15aug_mira.htm?list213022
Audio
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/images/mira/audio/story.m3u

 

[cesiumfrog]

Been reading /. ?

It's a pretty interesting observation, so I look forward to seeing whether more comes of it.. for example, will it give new information about galactic dust/gas density and dark matter?

 

[neutrino]

I know it's there to get everyone's attention but, "comet's tail"? Come on, this is a non-GD forum...

 

[Ivan Seeking]

It was the news report headline. Relax.