Chandra Release - September 18, 2017

Visual Description: V745 Sco

The graphic is a 3D model of the orbiting red giant and white dwarf star system V745 Sco. The computer-generated model appears as a glowing, filled in figure-8 shaped object with a purple hue on the inside and a yellow hue on the outside. There is a bright blue disk circling the waist of the 8. This illustrated figure depicts the 3D model of the V745 Sco explosion. The blast wave is yellow, the mass ejected by the explosion is purple, and the disk of cooler material, which is mostly untouched by the effects of the blast wave, is blue. A cavity is visible on the left side of the ejected material, and is the result of the debris from the white dwarf's surface being slowed down as it strikes the red giant.