{"copyright":"Tim Schaeffer","date":"2025-12-05","explanation":"Blasting outward from variable star KX Andromedae, these stunning bipolar jets are 19 light-year s long. Recently discovered, they are revealed in unprecedented detail in this d eep telescopic image centered on KX And and composed from over 692 hours of comb ined 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 co ol giant star is likely being transferred to the hot B-type star through an accr etion 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 estim ate for each jet of an astonishing 19 light-years. Free APOD Lecture in Phoeni x: Wednesday, December 10 at 7 pm","hdurl":"https:\/\/apod.nasa.gov\/apod\/image \/2512\/KXAnd.jpg","media_type":"image","service_version":"v1","title":"The Bipo lar Jets of KX Andromedae","url":"https:\/\/apod.nasa.gov\/apod\/image\/2512\/KX And1024.jpg"}
