A Son of the Rock

From Astronomy Picture of the Day for 5/2/22 comes this dazzling apparition, variable star R Aquarii, actually a binary star, a cool red giant and hot white dwarf orbiting their overall centre of mass. Apparently with binoculars you can see the star vary in brightness obver about a year.

The image is a combination of visible (blue and red) and X-ray data (rendered in purple.)