'Super volcano' explodes in the sky, tearing space apart

The Hubble telescope has captured an image of what NASA describes as a "stellar volcano" located 700 light years away.

In the image released by NASA, the object looks like a supervolcano in the sky erupting and flashing brightly. It is R Aquarii , a terrifying pair of a white dwarf and a red giant located 2.6 billion kilometers apart.

The moment the "stellar volcano" R Aquarii exploded - (Photo: NASA/ESA).

Red giants are dying stars that swell and shine one last time before "dying".

Meanwhile, the white dwarf is the "zombie" after that death, a compact object that is what remains of the collapsed, high-energy star.

In other words, R Aquarii consists of a dead star and a dying star, in a symbiotic relationship.

According to NASA, both are real space monsters.

The old red giant is a variable star , 400 times more massive than the Sun, constantly changing temperature and brightness by a factor of up to 750 in a 290-day cycle.

At its peak, the star can be 5,000 times brighter than the Sun.

Variable stars change their brightness due to their intrinsic properties as well as external influences. In this case, its companion contributes to the violent changes.

As the white dwarf makes its closest approach to the red giant in its 44-year orbit, it will gravitationally attract hydrogen gas.

This material accumulates on the dwarf's surface until it undergoes spontaneous nuclear fusion, causing the surface to explode like a giant hydrogen bomb. After the explosion, the fueling cycle begins again.

This explosion sent geyser-like filaments shooting out from the core, forming strange loops and streaks as the plasma appeared as streams.

The plasma was twisted by the force of the explosion and guided upward and outward by powerful magnetic fields. The outflow appeared to curve back on itself in a spiral pattern.

This plasma stream is shooting into space at more than 1 million miles per hour – fast enough to travel from Earth to the Moon in 15 minutes.

These filaments glow in visible light because they are powered by the blistering radiation from the stellar duo.

The explosion of the "stellar volcano" shook the entire universe, sending material 400 billion kilometers away - (Clip: NASA/ESA).

NASA called the scale of the event 'phenomenal.' The material blasted into space could be found at least 400 billion kilometers away from the stars, or 24 times the diameter of our solar system.