APOD 3.3- Zeta Oph: Runaway Star

Zeta Oph is an enormous runaway star made of compressed interstellar material nearly 460 light years away. It is believed that the star was at one time a member of an binary star system, however, it outlived its companion and is now moving through the universe. The star itself is approximately twenty times larger than our Sun and 65,000 times more luminous, however because of the high speed at which the star is traveling (24 kiliometres per second), Zeta Oph creates a trailing interstellar bow. The high speed winds in front of the star compress and heat the materials within the star. Zeta Oph, if it were not obstructed by interstellar dust, would be the brightest star in the night sky.