Astronomy Picture of the Day - The Bipolar Jets of KX Andromedae

NASA ^ | 5 Dec, 2025 | Image Credit & Copyright: Tim Schaeffer and the Deep Sky Collective

[MtnClimber]

Explanation: Blasting outward from variable star KX Andromedae, these stunning bipolar jets are 19 light-years long. Recently discovered, they are revealed in unprecedented detail in this deep telescopic image centered on KX And and composed from over 692 hours of combined image data. In fact, KX And is spectroscopically found to be an interacting binary star system consisting of a bright, hot B-type star with a swollen cool giant star as its co-orbiting, close companion. The stellar material from the cool giant star is likely being transferred to the hot B-type star through an accretion disk, with spectacular symmetric jets driven outward perpendicular to the disk itself. The known distance to KX And of 2,500 light-years, angular size of the jets, and estimated inclination of the accretion disk lead to the size estimate for each jet of an astonishing 19 light-years.

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TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; eltonjohn; nasa

[MtnClimber]

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For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.

[MtnClimber]

[MtnClimber]

Pinging the APOD list

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[BBB333]

Thanks for these posts.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

[MtnClimber]

Thanks! Merry Christmas and happy holidays for all Astronomy followers. OK and some others too.

[Diogenesis]

Bipolar jets ejected from KX And in Hα light without continuum.
The image reveals fine details and shows two jets with an apparent length of about 20′, with the northern jet ending in a bright tip.
That structure appears to be the outer end of a cigar-shaped shell.
There is a diffuse structure in the southern jet, about 7′ from KX And.
Both jets begin (becoming visible) at an apparent distance of about 1.8′ and the ejection rate seems to be vary strongly.
The bright point source in the main picture is KX And, which remains visible
as a result of precise continuum subtraction because the brighter companion of this binary system is an emission-line star.

[Bobalu]

Thanks for posting all the pictures you do...

It is appreciated, your thread is sometimes the only one that brings my blood pressure back down after reading all the news...

[MtnClimber]

Thanks, that makes it worthwhile.