HomeSpace & AstronomyThe largest known star in the universe, R136a1, has the clearest...

The largest known star in the universe, R136a1, has the clearest image

The star R136a1 is the most massive star known in the universe. With Gemini South’s help, astronomers have obtained the clearest view of R136a1 yet, helping us understand the most massive stars and discovering that it may not be as massive as we thought.

The star R136a1 belongs to the Wolf-Rayet star (WR star), located in the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud. It is the most massive star known, with an estimated mass of 351 solar masses and a luminosity of 8.7 million times that of the sun.

Astronomers don’t yet fully understand how super-massive stars more than 100 times the mass of the sun form. And the difficulty is that these giants are usually at the center of dust-shrouded clusters.

Coupled with the early death of giant stars, the internal fuel will be consumed in only a few million years. In comparison, the sun has nearly 5 billion years to live, so it is difficult to observe.

Scientists have used the Hubble Space Telescope and various ground-based telescopes to observe R136a1, but none of these telescopes have been able to obtain clear enough images to identify other stellar members near the cluster.

Even if it is estimated that R136a1 is about 250 to 320 times the mass of the sun, it may be misled by the brightness and temperature of nearby stars.

The Largest Star R136a1 might be Smaller than we think

Now, using the speckle imaging technology of the Zorro instrument of the Southern Gemini binoculars to overcome the blurring effect caused by the earth’s atmosphere, astronomers have obtained the clearest image of R136a1 so far, distinguishing the position of the giant star and nearby stars, and down-correcting the mass of R136a1 is only the sun 170 ~230 times larger, suggesting that the upper limit of stellar mass may also be smaller than previously thought.

The new results also have implications for the origin of elements in the universe that are heavier than helium, because heavy elements are often produced in unstable supernova events (stars more than 150 times the mass of the sun explode and die),

If R136a1 is less massive than previously thought, and possibly other massive stars as well, there will be fewer unstable supernova events than expected.

The new paper will be published in The Astrophysical Journal.

SOURCESpace
Mehmet S. Kaya
Mehmet S. Kayahttps://teknonel.com
Mehmet is one of the administrator of Teknonel. As a software developer, he loves to share his knowledge in related topics. He is highly familiar with the editorial process from the inception of an article idea, through the iterative process, publishing, and performance analysis as well as product reviews.

Follow us on Social Media!

12FansLike
15,848FollowersFollow
13FollowersFollow
676SubscribersSubscribe

Related Articles

The night sky is full of black holes instead of stars

This is a seemingly ordinary starry sky photo (see the first picture), but it is a more special celestial body than luminous stars, that...

Truck-Sized Asteroid passed 3,600 kilometers closer than many satellites

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) stated that an asteroid the size of a truck passed over the southern tip of South America...

NASA captures unusual close glimpse of black hole devouring a star

A rogue star recently eaten by a black hole may help scientists understand more complex black hole feeding.NASA's multiple telescopes recently observed a massive...

The Most Important space exploration Missions to watch in 2023

Following this year's milestones such as the launch of the Webb Space Telescope for scientific observation, the completion of China's Tiangong space station, and...

Explore More Articles

4 Best Truck mods in Euro Truck Simulator 2

4 Best Truck mods in Euro Truck Simulator 2

0
ETS 2 is a game all about driving a truck in a massive world of roads. In this case, we have listed the best...
Rolls-Royce builds world's largest jet engine-min

Rolls-Royce builds world’s largest jet engine

0
Rolls-Royce's new gas turbine engine, UltraFan, has just completed its first ground test before electric engines enter all areas of transportation. When launched, it will...
Best Car mods in Euro Truck Simulator 2-main

4 Best Car mods in Euro Truck Simulator 2

0
When it comes to Euro Truck Simulator 2, players mostly focused on trucks and trailers mod. However there are lots of great car mods...