Delta Centauri is a rapidly rotating star, and this rapid rotation causes it to emit gas that then forms into a ring or shell around the star itself, creating a phenomenon known as a 'shell star'. This bluestar is intensely luminous, radiating up to 12,000 times as much energy as the Sun.
Delta Centauri is an 'optical triple' as seen from Earth, with two other relatively brightstars so close that they appear to merge with Delta Centauri's halo in this image. In fact none of these stars are related to one another, but simply lie on a very similar line of sight. The star to the northwest is V863 Centauri, a variablebluestar some thirty light years beyond Delta Centauri. To the southwest is HR 4619 which, though it appears to be the faintest of the three, is actually the closest to the Sun, a rather less luminousstar in the foreground of the others. Imagery provided by Aladin sky atlas
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