The flash of an earthly fireworks display can be over in an instant — sometimes literally — but the show is longer lasting in outer space. The dying red-giant star known as U Camelopardalis, 1,500 light-years away in a region of sky near the north celestial pole, is in the midst of a fireworks blast that lasts for centuries.

By human standards, U Cam's blast may seem like an eternity. The star's shining shell of glowing gas, documented in this picture from the Hubble Space Telescope, has been traveling outward for something like 700 years, as Bad Astronomy's Phil Plait points out. When the outward explosion began, Europe was suffering through famines and plagues, and the mainstream view was that our planet was the center of the universe.

But in the astronomical scheme of things, centuries are mere blinks of the eye — and it won't be long before U Cam gives up the ghost.

Long-lasting fireworks spotted by space telescopes - PhotoBlog

I'm always amazed at the fact that, even with telescopes, we look into the past instead of the present...99% of what we see in space has already happened...

__________________
"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd

And who knows what the future holds!

__________________
.
A lie can run around the world before the truth can get its boots on.
Watt, James

http://honestreporting.com/
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/
http://www.idfblog.com/

.