R136a1

Using a combination of instruments on ESO's Very Large Telescope, astronomers have discovered the most massive stars to date, some weighing at birth more than 300 times the mass of the Sun, or twice as much as the currently accepted limit of 150 solar masses. The most extreme of these stars was found in the cluster RMC 136a (more often nicknamed R136). Named R136a1, it is found to have a current mass of 265 times that of the Sun. Being a little over a million years old, R136a1 is already 'middle-aged' and has undergone an intense weight-loss programme, shedding a fifth of its initial mass over that time, or more than fifty solar masses. It also has the highest luminosity, close to ten million times greater than the Sun. R136 is a cluster of young, massive and hot stars located inside the Tarantula Nebula, in one of the Milky Way's neighbouring galaxies, the Large Magellanic Cloud, 165 000 light-years away. This video zooms in on the R136 cluster as seen with the MAD adaptive optics instrument on the Very Large Telescope, starting from a wider view obtained with the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• telescopes
• interferometer
• astronomy
• ESO

[kotosqopos]

What's sad about R136a1 is that going to die young =(

[sorsitnot]

ใหญ่มากๆๆ

[vladissimo18]

where exactly is VY Canis Majoris? near sirius ???

[paxpacis2]

Super Brightness!!

[sala680]

@TheNogeman im not talking about mass (u spelled it wrong) im talkiing about size and you have just proved my point. VYCM is dying and is expanding into nothing.

[TheNogeman]

@sala680 fuck you, VY CANIS MAJORIS HAS 3.050.000.000 IN DIAMETER AND LESS MASSE THAN SUN, R136A1 HAS 40.000.000 IN DIAMETER BUT 265 SOLAR MASSES!!! 40.000.000 KM X 265= 10.600.000.000 KM IN DIAMETER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! STUPID

[RudiL94]

Meh... ive seen bigger...

[manu0wnz]

I cant picture how this star is going to be in its Hypergiant phase...

[saurabhs1996]

cant belive tht r136a1 was 345 mass of sun at its birth

[saurabhs1996]

@sala680 not 10mil only 100000 yrs cause its unstable