#space #astronomy #stars
NASA
MIRA ~The Shooting Star
The star Mira, with its 13-light-year-long tail, zips through the galaxy at 291,000 miles per hour! This image was made from several Galaxy Evolution Explorer images put together into a mosaic.

• A star's life has a beginning, middle, and end, just like ours. Only a star's life is much, much longer. Mira is a red giant star near the end of its life. It is blowing off much of its mass in the form of gas and dust. It has already flung out enough material to construct at least 3,000 Earth-sized planets!