This star is one of the rare cases where the mass-loss phenomenon can be studied in such details. The envelope is so opaque that the light from the central star does not reach the outside easily in the optical. It is absorbed and re-emitted at longer wavelengths that our eyes cannot see. The structure of the envelope contains the history of the poorly understood mass-loss episodes. CW Leo's envelope is roughly spherical, but appears made of several concentric shells, each shell being incomplete.
North is up and East to the left.
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