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and falls the star "R136 A1" (R136a1) in the Tarantula Nebula, among a group of stars in the so-called Magellanic Cloud, near a galaxy Milky Way Which includes EarthIts discovery dates back to 1985. In 2010, a team of astronomers classified it as the largest star ever observed.
Scientists believed that the mass of the star is 320 times the size of the sun, but previous modern observations forced a modification of these estimates, as they showed that it is only 250 times larger than the sun.
As for the latest study, which will be published in the journal "The Astrophysical Journal" Specializing in astrophysics, a team using the North Gemini telescopes in Hawaii and the South Gemini in Chile lowered its mass estimate to between 170 and 230 solar masses.
The lead author of the study, an astronomer at the "Noir Lab" (NOIRLab) American who operates two telescopes "Gemini" Fino calari "Our results show that the largest star we currently know is not as massive as we thought".
He added in a statement issued by the center on Thursday "This suggests that the upper limit of stellar mass may also be smaller than we thought".
It is difficult to observe the largest and brightest stars in the universe "R136 A1".
This is due firstly to the fact that its life span is relatively very short, as it is limited to a few million years, while the life span of the Sun is ten billion years.
The second reason is that they are generally located within compressed star groups enveloped by stellar dust, which makes it difficult to accurately measure their brightness, knowing that it is precisely this brightness that allows determining the mass of the star.
And the team got "Noir Lab" The most accurate picture of the stars in the group and therefore of the star "R136 A1" Using a technique called macular interferometry.
Capture the camera "visit" The center owns a very large number of images, amounting to 40,000, with a very short exposure time, which enabled it to avoid distorting the Earth’s atmosphere on the footage.
Given that the monitoring technique used has not previously been applied to this type of objectives, the authors of the study deal with its results. "cautiously"according to Kalari, waiting for more efficient instruments to allow for improved measurement, such as the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), which is expected to enter service in 2027.
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and falls the star R136a1 in the Tarantula Nebula, among a group of stars in the Magellanic Cloud, near a galaxy Milky Way Which includes EarthIts discovery dates back to 1985. In 2010, a team of astronomers classified it as the largest star ever observed.
Scientists believed that the mass of the star is 320 times the size of the sun, but previous modern observations forced a modification of these estimates, as they showed that it is only 250 times larger than the sun.
In the latest study to be published in the Astrophysical Journal, a team using the Gemini North in Hawaii and the South Gemini telescope in Chile lowered its mass estimate to between 170 and 230 solar masses.
“Our results show that the most massive star we currently know is not as massive as we thought,” said the study’s lead author, an astronomer at the US NOIRLab, who operates the Gemini telescope and Venu Kalari.
“This indicates that the upper limit of the stellar mass may also be smaller than we thought,” he added in a statement issued by the center Thursday.
It is difficult to observe the largest and brightest stars in the universe, such as “R136a1”.
This is due firstly to the fact that its life span is relatively very short, as it is limited to a few million years, while the life span of the Sun is ten billion years.
The second reason is that they are generally located within compressed star groups enveloped by stellar dust, which makes it difficult to accurately measure their brightness, knowing that it is precisely this brightness that allows determining the mass of the star.
The Neuer Lab team obtained the most accurate image of the stars in the group, and thus of the star “R136a1”, using a technique called interferometry.
The center’s “Zoro” imaging device took a very large number of pictures, amounting to 40,000, with a very short exposure time, which enabled it to avoid distorting the Earth’s atmosphere on the footage.
Given that the observation technique used has not previously been applied to this type of target, the authors of the study treat its results “with caution”, according to Kalari, waiting for more efficient tools to allow improvement of measurement, such as the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), which is expected to enter service in the next year. 2027.