Tarantula Nebula complete with massive star R 136a1 Credit:ESO
Astronomers from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) have discovered the most colossal stars to date, using a combination of instruments on the VLT – Very Large Telescope.
The stars live short and bright lives in the furthest reaches of space before exploding into a blaze of glory. One of the stars, currently labeled R136a1, is thought to weigh 265 times more than our Sun and to shine millions of times more brightly. The picture below shows an artist’s impression demonstrating the relative sizes of young stars, from the smallest ‘red dwarf’, through to a ‘yellow dwarf’ such as the Sun, to the even larger ‘blue dwarf’ star weighing in at 8 times more than the Sun, and lastly the vast R136a1.
artists impression showing relative star sizes Credit:ESO
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