2300 light years away from Earth, at a Right Ascension of 06h 19m 58.21s and a Declination of -10° 38′ 14.7″ in the constellation of Monoceros, lies the dying star HD 44179.

It’s more commonly known as the Red Rectangle Nebula for it’s unusual shape and colour as seen from our vantage point. It’s not an alien structure, the parabolic curves of ejecting gas and dust from the star would more likely resemble wineglasses from any other point of view. It is still an amazing celestial object to view as the outflows are pushed out in opposing directions in episodes that may be occurring every few hundred years, making features resembling rungs on a ladder.

Image taken with NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope

The reason for these intermittent explosions are still unknown, nor why the particles are coloured red. Astronomers found that the star in the centre is actually a close pair of stars that orbit each other with a period of about 10 1/2 month, but these stars are invisible due to the thick dust disc between them and our eyes.

Have an excellent Monday and take care of yourselves everyone!