Exploding Star Depicted in Renderings

Have you ever seen a star explode before? Most likely, not. But this is the next best thing. In this series of renderings, you can actually see how a star turns nova or supernova. This star is, or was, Cassiopeia A and it has taken 325 years to explode. See, it's not that different from how planets are depicted to explode in movies.

Big Red Eye in Space

It's looking at you, kid.

This eye-like object is space is the Helix nebula photographed by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. It is the remnant of a sunlike star that went nova to turn into a white dwarf star in the center.