I'm normally not one to jump on the latest press release, but this image is awfully purty.
The blue blob is not a comet, but is actually hot gas thrown off by an aging, rather famous star named Mira. (I realize this is sounding very "Sunset Boulevard", but stay with me.) Different types of stars are often named after the first one discovered, and, as Mira was one of the first stars of its type discovered, there is a whole class of pulsating red stars known as "Mira variables" in its honor. These "asymptotic giant branch" stars form when a moderately massive star begins to run out of fuel. After losing its most stable source of energy generation (hydrogen fusion in the very center), the star procedes to go through a series of conniption fits as it attempts to find alternate sources of fuel. During these fits, the star becomes ...
