Now this is awesome, astronomers captured a stunning close-up of WOH G64 star beyond the Milky Way. It has reached a historic leap that made it feasible to observe for the very first time an intricate photograph of a star positioned outside of our very own Milky Way Galaxy in space. The wonderful feat has highlighted its concentration on WOH G64, an incredible red supergiant, that is three times bigger than the most renowned one which is called Betelgeuse.
WOH G64 is located within the Large Magellanic Cloud, more than 160,000 light-years distant in the southern constellation Dorado. It is an interesting target for scientists wanting to further their knowledge of stellar evolution and the lifecycle of massive stars. This historic discovery opens up, not only the technical skill that would go into photographing objects this far out in space but also its meaning for our understanding of the universe and our place within it. Let’s explore what this amazing close-up reveals about the nature of stars beyond our galactic home.
This dwarf galaxy revolves around our Milky Way. It is the satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. This discovery is not only going to help us understand stellar evolution but is also going to open new doors of research in astronomy. What was this whole update and how were scientists able to get such a detailed image of this giant star? Let’s discuss this in today’s blog post.
When Was WOH G64 Discovered
It was discovered in the 1970s. WOH G64 has long held the interest of astronomers since it is very big and bright. It is one of the red supergiant stars that has a radius 1,700 to 2,000 times greater than the radius of our Sun. It is positioned at the forefront of some of the most massive stars identified in the universe.
The WOH G64 star is not only the largest discovered in the universe but it is also 282,000 times more luminous than our sun. Scientists propose that this star probably had a mass equaling 25 times as much as that of our Sun at the time of its formation. However classified as a red supergiant, it must almost be in the last part of its life process as such it is losing about three-quarters of its total mass. It has now dwindled to between 3 to 9 times the mass of our sun.
This wonderful form has earned multiple nicknames, including “The Behemoth” and “The Monster.” Red supergiants, as is WOH G64’s class, mark the end phases of the evolution of a large star; a phase known to be of swift evolution and thus unstable as death is nearby.
Astronomers knew about WOH G64 decades ago, but photographing it is always challenging. Images of most stars within our Milky Way have been taken, but images of stars in other galaxies are very hard to come by because they are so far away and relatively faint. Under such circumstances, photographing WOH G64 is a historic achievement in astrophysics.
The Imaging Process
Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer, located in the Chilean Atacama Desert, scientists were able to capture the innovative image. By combining light from four different telescopes, this powerful tool boasts unprecedented sensitivity and resolution; astronomers can now clearly observe distant and faint objects with a level of detail otherwise impossible to achieve.
This historic achievement forms part of previous observations conducted in 2005 and 2007, resulting in much important data on the character of WOH G64. However, it wasn’t before the second generation tool that was GRAVITY came about, that astronomers were finally capable of taking close-up photographs of this star so remote.
Keiichi Ohnaka, a Chile-based astrophysicist at Universidad Andrés Bello and a lead author of this study that was based on these observations says, “For the first time, we have obtained a close-up image of a dying star beyond our own Milky Way.”
This is an egg-shaped envelope around WOH G64. This means that the star is ejecting large quantities of material as it comes to the end of its life.
Key Findings From The Image
Recent observations have exposed important information about the actual state of WOH G64. The star currently is in its very last stages and is undergoing extreme transitional changes. Over the last ten years, astronomers deduced that WOH G64 had faded, either due to the blowing out of gas and dust. Such mass loss is very common for red supergiants as these stars lost most of their outer layers before they became supernovae.
Scientists were surprised to find the cocoon enveloping WOH G64 in the form of an egg-shaped. Models created using observations from the past indicated otherwise for this star. This unanticipated ovoid shape has led researchers to ask whether processes could be active at this stage in the stellar lifecycle. They believe that it could be because of how the star is ejecting material, or maybe it is a companion star hidden from our view and exerting some force on these outflows.
Gerd Weigelt, professor of astronomy at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy and co-author of the study, had this to say: “We found that the star changed appreciably in ten years, giving us an ideal moment to witness the lifecycle of a star in real-time.”
List Of Top 5 Largest Known Stars In The Universe
| Star Name | Mass (Solar Masses) | Radius (Solar Radii) |
|---|---|---|
| Stephenson 2-18 | ~12–16 | ~2,150 |
| WOH G64 | ~3-9 | ~1,788 – 2,000 |
| UY Scuti | ~10 | ~1,700 |
| RSGC1-F01 | ~35-40 | ~1,450-1,530 |
| VY Canis Majoris | ~17±8 | ~1,420 |
Life Cycle Of Red Supergiants
To get why WOH G64 is such a big deal, we gotta know what a red supergiant is. So, these stars are like, some of the biggest stars out there in the universe and usually mass between 8 and 40 times more than our Sun. When these stars run out of hydrogen fuel in their cores, they move into the red supergiant phase, burning helium and heavier stuff in their cores.
So these red supergiants are quite cool at the surface, perhaps in the range of 3,500 to 4,500 Kelvin, and this is why they are red. Although supermassive, they are rather short-lived compared to their smaller cousins. In addition, they are rather unstable. A red supergiant can only linger around for a few million years before exploding as a supernova.
WOH G64 is a great example of this whole thing as it’s getting to the last part of its life. The mass loss happening around it is normal for red supergiants that are close to dying.
Implications For Astronomy
It is pretty awesome getting a good look at the star WOH G64 since besides giving us cool information regarding that star, it further helps us get a good grip on how stars go through evolution in galaxies. These kinds of observations help astronomers check out the different phases of the life cycle of these stars and figure stuff like supernova explosions.
These were indeed the tools to present the capabilities of modern tech in astronomy. Tools such as GRAVITY and the VLTI (Very Large Telescope Interferometer) indeed enable scientists to look deeply into far-off objects thus solving new mysteries all along across the galaxy.
Conclusion
Getting the first close-up shot of WOH G64 is a big deal in astronomy. It not only helps us get a better grip on this star but also opens up new opportunities to explore far-off objects in the universe.
The stuff we’re learning about WOH G64 shows us how much more there is to learn about the universe. Each new thing we discover about stars makes us appreciate the crazy processes of stellar evolution even more and helps us get a better grip on the events that shape the universe.
So, this is another star, I guess you could say sort of like this one but way closer to dying. And it’s 250 times closer to us than this star. Yep, got it, I’m referring to Betelgeuse. Recently, some cool news came out about it that scientists think a neighboring star may be the cause behind its crazy dimming. Check out this blog post for more information!
FAQs Related To WOH G64 Star
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What Color Is WOH G64?
WOH G64 is thus described as a red supergiant, and it does have such a beautiful red color to it. Its not-so-hot surface temperature has been reported from 3,008 up to 3,400 Kelvin.
WOH G64 is among the coolest stars of Large Magellanic Clouds. A very reddish look is attributed to this stage of evolution because this star has expanded up to large sizes and shredded much of its mass compared to its original condition.
A thick dust envelope surrounds the star so it shines with very good brightness and emits tremendous quantities of gas and dust foretelling soon time would pass for it before converting into a supernova.
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How Many Suns Can Fit In WOH G64?
WOH G64 is an astronomical giant, with about a radius of 1,540 to 2000 times that of the Sun. This means roughly 3.65 to 4+ billion Suns could fit inside WOH G64, which indicates the star’s enormous volume.
So, just to feel this, if WOH G64 hung out around the center of our solar system, the outer shells would extend at least down to Jupiter’s orbit. That’s freaken big, and this shows me how massive of a star WOH G64 is to see kind of the extremeness of how much variety exists in the size in which stars come.
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Is WOH G64 In The Milky Way?
So WOH G64 is not in the Milky Way; it hangs out in the Large Magellanic Cloud, which is this little dwarf galaxy that orbits our galaxy. It’s about 160,000 light-years away from Earth and is one of the biggest red supergiants we know of-being around 2,000 times the size of the Sun.
The LMC is located very close to the Milky Way and, as such, makes for an extremely excellent spot for observing how stars exactly develop and appreciate the life cycles of large-sized stars such as WOH G64.
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Is WOH G64 Bigger Than UY Scuti?
So, WOH G64 is bigger than UY Scuti. Like, WOH G64’s radius is about 1,540 times bigger than the Sun, and UY Scuti’s radius is around 1,708 times that of the Sun. But get this, recent measurements are saying WOH G64 might be closer to 1,788 to 2,000 solar radii, which makes it one of the biggest stars we know about.
UY Scuti may be very large, but it is frequently measured at different times. Therefore, the comparison may not be direct since WOH G64 is enormous, thus one of the largest in the universe.
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Is Woh G64 Bigger Than Stephenson 2-18?
No, WOH G64 is not bigger than Stephenson 2-18. While WOH G64 was once considered the largest known star, recent observations have revealed that Stephenson 2-18 is significantly larger. Its radius is estimated to be around 2,150 solar radii, whereas WOH G64’s radius is estimated to be between 1,540 and 2,000 solar radii.
