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#Repost///@itscosmoknowledge: Astronomers have spotted the largest stellar bubble ever seen in our galaxy. It surrounds DFK 52, a red supergiant star similar to Betelgeuse, and stretches an astonishing 1.4 light years wide. This enormous shell of gas and dust was ejected about 4,000 years ago in a violent eruption. It contains as much mass as the Sun, yet the star itself remains intact. How? That’s the puzzle. One theory is that an unseen companion star triggered the outburst by disturbing DFK 52’s outer layers. ALMA’s radio data shows the bubble is still expanding, confirming that it was created by a sudden, explosive event. Red supergiants are known to explode as supernovae near the end of their lives, but DFK 52 expelled a huge amount of material without reaching that final stage. This could be a rare look at a star in the critical moments before its death. If it behaves like a typical red supergiant, it might go supernova within the next million years. For astronomers, it’s like watching a cosmic time bomb that could light up the sky someday, and this might be our best chance yet to study what happens right before a star dies.Follow @itscosmoknowledge #astronomy #cosmos #education #science #cosmoknowledge