Cosmic Behemoth - Scientists Discover Biggest Star Ever Known
July 23rd 2010 08:04
In the darkest corners of deep space, scientists have discovered the most gargantuan galactic fireball ever known to mankind.
The star, known as R136a1, is a staggering 265 times heavier than the sun and millions of times brighter.
The new discovery has thwarted the minds of the greatest scientists, who thought it utterly inconceivable that stars greater than 150 times the size of the sun could exist.
Raphael Hirschi, researcher at Britain's Keele University, says if the galactic monster were to replace our sun, its immense gravitational pull would suck the earth in so close that an earth year would last only three weeks. He adds our planet would be saturated in ultra violet light, rendering it an utter biological disaster.
The R136a1 has been located by astronomers in the Tarantula Nebula, 165,000 light years away from Earth. In fact, the star is so distant that it can only be viewed in the Southern Hemisphere with the world's most powerful telescope.
Paul Crowther, astrophysicist at Sheffield University in Britain, has lead a team on the discovery by using the aptly named Very Large Telescope (VLT), as well as archival material from the Hubble Space Telescope.
For maximum clarity, the team conducted the exploration in the driest and most desolate part of the world - the Atacama Desert in Northern Chile. It was here they also discovered a cluster of stars purportedly holding surface temperatures of 40,000 degrees Celsius, more than seven times hotter than our sun.
Whilst surprised by the discovery, Dr Crowther says it's an extremely rare phenomenon that's unlikely to be topped any time soon.
Astronomers, however, are not the only ones getting excited. The finding has prompted vehement advocacy from the previously scorned Underground Society for Esoteric Scientists (USES), who proclaim the star is not just one big bertha, but a blazing cluster of entities engaged in deep galactic conspiracy.
The star, known as R136a1, is a staggering 265 times heavier than the sun and millions of times brighter.
The new discovery has thwarted the minds of the greatest scientists, who thought it utterly inconceivable that stars greater than 150 times the size of the sun could exist.
Raphael Hirschi, researcher at Britain's Keele University, says if the galactic monster were to replace our sun, its immense gravitational pull would suck the earth in so close that an earth year would last only three weeks. He adds our planet would be saturated in ultra violet light, rendering it an utter biological disaster.
The R136a1 has been located by astronomers in the Tarantula Nebula, 165,000 light years away from Earth. In fact, the star is so distant that it can only be viewed in the Southern Hemisphere with the world's most powerful telescope.
Paul Crowther, astrophysicist at Sheffield University in Britain, has lead a team on the discovery by using the aptly named Very Large Telescope (VLT), as well as archival material from the Hubble Space Telescope.
For maximum clarity, the team conducted the exploration in the driest and most desolate part of the world - the Atacama Desert in Northern Chile. It was here they also discovered a cluster of stars purportedly holding surface temperatures of 40,000 degrees Celsius, more than seven times hotter than our sun.
Whilst surprised by the discovery, Dr Crowther says it's an extremely rare phenomenon that's unlikely to be topped any time soon.
Astronomers, however, are not the only ones getting excited. The finding has prompted vehement advocacy from the previously scorned Underground Society for Esoteric Scientists (USES), who proclaim the star is not just one big bertha, but a blazing cluster of entities engaged in deep galactic conspiracy.
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