The stars, some of them at tremendous speeds, are in motion just as the planets are, yet being so far away from Earth that their apparent positions in the sky do not change enough for their movement to be observed during a single human lifetime.

(A) The stars, some of them at tremendous speeds, are in motion just as the planets are, yet being
(B) Like the planets, the stars are in motion, some of them at tremendous speeds, but they are
(C) Although like the planets the stars are in motion, some of them at tremendous speeds, yet
(D) As the planets, the stars are in motion, some of them at tremendous speeds, but they are
(E) The stars are in motion like the planets, some of which at tremendous speeds are in motion but

OA is B . Option B "some of them at tremendous speeds" - I thought modified the act of stars being in motion - more precisely the verb motion. This is classified as an absolute phrase. A phrase that modifies the entire previous sentence.

https://www.knewton.com/blog/gmat/2010/1 ... -question/

Now how do I differentiate between an absolute phrase and noun phrase. The above modifier looked more like an adverbial phrase modifying the verb motion.

Can someone with a better understanding explain this in more detail?

Please note I don't disagree with Option B as the right answer or as to why the other options are wrong. I want to understand the difference between noun phrases and absolute phrases in the context of the above sentence.