Trailing Red Giants

As they near the end of their lives, stars like the Sun eventually deplete the supply of nuclear fuel in their cores. At this point, the outer layers expand and cool, until the star swells to as much as a hundred or more times its original size. Such stars are known as "red giants". Red giants are known to be rampant cosmic polluters, spewing large amounts of matter into space. In this podcast, learn how recent radio wavelength observations are leading to new insights into this process, including the discovery that some red giants are trailed by previously invisible wakes of debris up to several light years long!