Really hot stars

This unique image shows AB7, one of the highest excitation nebulae in the Magellanic Clouds (MCs), two satellite galaxies of our own Milky Way. AB7 is a binary star, consisting of one WR-star — highly evolved massive star - and a mid-age massive companion of spectral type O. These exceptional stars have very strong stellar winds: they continuously eject energetic particles — like the "solar wind" from the Sun — but some 10 to 1,000 million times more intensely than our star! These powerful winds exert an enormous pressure on the surrounding interstellar material and forcefully shape those clouds into "bubbles", well visible in the photos by their blue colour. AB7 is particularly remarkable: the associated huge nebula and HeII region indicate that this star is one of the, if not the, hottest WR-star known so far, with a surface temperature in excess of 120,000 degrees ! Just outside this nebula, a small network of green filaments is visible — they are the remains of another supernova explosion.

Credit:

ESO

Over de afbeelding

Id:eso0310a
Type:Observatie
Publicatiedatum:9 april 2003
Gerelateerde berichten:eso0310
Grootte:4961 x 4956 px

Over het object

Naam:LHA 115-N 76A
Type:Local Universe : Nebula
Local Universe : Star : Grouping : Binary
Afstand:180000 lichtjaren
Constellation:Tucana
Categorie:Nebulae

Afbeeldingstypen

Grote JPEG
3,2 MB

Inzoomen


Achtergrond

1024x768
267,6 KB
1280x1024
405,8 KB
1600x1200
511,4 KB
1920x1200
528,4 KB
2048x1536
667,9 KB

Coordinates

Position (RA):1 3 48.92
Position (Dec):-72° 3' 51.42"
Field of view:6.57 x 6.57 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 0.1° left of vertical

Kleuren & filters

BandTelescoop
Optisch
HeIII
Very Large Telescope
FORS1
Optisch
OIII
Very Large Telescope
FORS1
Optisch
H-I
Very Large Telescope
FORS1