WASHINGTON, Nov 21 – Scientists have captured a close-up image of a star seemingly in its final moments, surrounded by gas and dust as it nears its demise in a massive supernova explosion. This marks the first time such an event has been imaged during this critical phase. What makes the discovery even more remarkable, researchers say, is that the star is located not in our Milky Way galaxy, but in the neighboring Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy.

This is the first zoomed-in image of a mature star in another galaxy, though a stellar newborn in the Large Magellanic Cloud was observed in research published last year. "Zoomed-in" refers to the image capturing not just the star itself, but also its immediate surroundings.

Figure 1. Scientists Capture Image of Star on Verge of Destruction

The dying star, WOH G64, is located approximately 160,000 light-years from Earth. A light-year is the distance light travels in one year, equivalent to about 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion kilometers). Figure 1 shows Scientists Capture Image of Star on Verge of Destruction.

The image, which is somewhat blurry, was captured using the European Southern Observatory's Chile-based Very Large Telescope Interferometer. It shows the star encased in a glowing, egg-shaped nebula of gas and dust, likely ejected by the star. A faint oval ring, possibly composed of additional dust, can also be seen beyond the nebula.

"The star is in the final stage of its life before a stellar demise," said astronomer Keiichi Ohnaka of Universidad Andrés Bello in Chile, lead author of the study published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

"The reason we see these shapes is that the star is ejecting more material in some directions than in others. Otherwise, the structures would appear spherical," Ohnaka explained. Another possible explanation for these shapes could be the gravitational influence of an undetected companion star, he added.

Before it began ejecting material, WOH G64 was estimated to be about 25 to 40 times the mass of the Sun, according to astronomer and study co-author Jacco van Loon of Keele University in England. It is classified as a red supergiant, a type of massive star.

"Its estimated mass means it has lived for about 10 to 20 million years and will soon die," van Loon explained. This marks the first image of a star "in this late stage, possibly undergoing a never-before-witnessed metamorphosis before explosion," he added. "For the first time, we have been able to see the structures surrounding a star in its death throes. Even in our Milky Way galaxy, we don’t have such an image."

Massive stars have shorter lifespans compared to less massive ones. For example, the Sun is over 4.5 billion years old and has billions of years left. WOH G64, on the other hand, has a massive diameter that expands before its anticipated explosion in the near future. If it were positioned at the center of our solar system, its outer edges would reach as far as Saturn’s orbit.

"We found that WOH G64 has noticeably changed its appearance over the last 10 years," Ohnaka said, suggesting that it may be dimming due to its starlight being obscured by the gas and dust it has ejected. "This gives us a rare opportunity to witness a star’s life in real time, particularly the final stages of a massive star before its death in a supernova explosion," he added.

The Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, has less dust and a lower concentration of metallic elements—those other than hydrogen and helium—compared to our galaxy. "This may affect the way stars live and die," van Loon noted. "Such conditions were more common in the early universe and could resemble the Milky Way when it was young."

Source: Reuters

Cite this article:

Janani R (2024), Scientists Capture Image of a Star on The Brink of Disaster, AnaTechmaz, pp. 134