R Aquarii is an unusually curious looking star that has been undergoing violent eruptions of nuclear material with the latest probably occurring in the late 1970’s. The mechanism of eruptions is theorized to result from the interaction of a white dwarf with a nearby younger companion star. The evidence of the eruptions extends to around 2,500AU or 2,500 times the distance of the Earth form the Sun. The central star, SAO165849, glows at magnitude 8.7 and is easily visible even through small telescopes.
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