livearevolution

Dreamy, Young Stars

The Orion Nebula is a 'happening' place where stars are born and this colony of hot, young stars is stirring up the cosmic scene in this image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The young stars dip and peak in brightness; shifting cold and hot spots on the stars' surfaces cause brightness levels to change. In addition, surrounding disks of lumpy planet-forming material can obstruct starlight. Spitzer is keeping tabs on the young stars, providing data on their changing ways. The hottest stars in the region are the Trapezium cluster.

This image was taken after Spitzer's liquid coolant ran dry in May 2009, marking the beginning of its "warm" mission.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Posted

0 Comments

Universe's biggest known star discovered by British astronomers

via telegraph.co.uk

...Previously, the heaviest known stars were around 150 times the mass of the Sun, and this was believed to be close to the cosmic size limit.

As stars get more massive the amount of energy created in their cores grows at a faster rate than the force of gravity which holds them together. The torrents of energy produced eventually become so powerful that the stars are torn apart.

This is known as the "Eddington Limit", after the British physicist Arthur Eddington who, in 1919, proved Einstein's theory of relativity by showing that light is bent by gravity.

It was believed that the Eddington Limit was reached at around 150 solar masses. However, R136a1 has been measured at 265 solar masses, and 9 million times its brightness, with a surface temperature of 95,000°F (53,000 K).

Articles:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/7902627/Universes-biggest-known-star...

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/98927839.html

Full analysis:

http://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso1030/eso1030.pdf

Posted

0 Comments

hello there!