page_title: R Hydrae
hierarchical_section_title: R Hydrae
caption_attribution_description: English: This image from the Spitzer Space Telescope (left panel) shows the "bow shock" of a dying star named R Hydrae (R Hya) in the constellation Hydra. Bow shocks are formed where the stellar wind from a star are pushed into a bow shape (illustration, right panel) as the star plunges through the gas and dust between stars. Prior to this image one had never been observed around this particular class of red giant star. Our own Sun has no bow shock, only a bow wave. R Hya moves through space at approximately 50 kilometers per second. As it does so, it discharges dust and gas into space. Because the star is relatively cool, that ejecta quickly assumes a solid state and collides with the interstellar medium. The resulting dusty nebula is invisible to the naked eye but can be detected using an infrared telescope. This bow shock is 16,295 AU from the star to the apex and 6,188 AU thick. 1 AU is the distance between the Sun and the Earth. The mass of the bow shock is about 400 times the mass of the Earth. The false-color Spitzer image shows infrared emissions at 70 microns. Brighter colors represent greater intensities of infrared light at that wavelength. The location of the star itself is drawn onto the picture in the black "unobserved" region in the center.
context_page_description: R Hydrae, also known as R Hya, is a Mira-type variable star in the constellation Hydra.
  The magnitude of R Hydrae varies over a period of 389 days, between 3.5 and 10.9. The period of R Hydrae changes slowly.
  At maximum brightness the star can be seen with the naked eye, while at minimum a telescope of at least 5 cm is needed.
  R Hydrae is approximately 700 light years from Earth. Its spectral class is M6e/M9e.
context_section_description: R Hydrae, also known as R Hya, is a Mira-type variable star in the constellation Hydra.
  The magnitude of R Hydrae varies over a period of 389 days, between 3.5 and 10.9. The period of R Hydrae changes slowly. 
  At maximum  brightness the star can be seen with the naked eye, while at minimum a telescope of at least 5 cm is needed.
  R Hydrae is approximately 700 light years from Earth. Its spectral class is M6e/M9e:.
caption: The bow shock around R Hya [9]
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