The sizes of stars

Using a combination of instruments on ESO’s Very Large Telescope, astronomers have discovered the most massive stars to date, some weighing at birth more than 300 times the mass of the Sun, or twice as much as the currently accepted limit of 150 solar masses. This artist's impression shows the relative sizes of young stars, from the smallest “red dwarfs”, weighing in at about 0.1 solar masses, through low mass “yellow dwarfs” such as the Sun, to massive “blue dwarf” stars weighing eight times more than the Sun, as well as the 300 solar mass star named R136a1.

Crédit:

ESO/M. Kornmesser

À propos de l'image

Identification:eso1030c
Type:Dessin
Date de publication:21 juillet 2010 12:00
Communiqués de presse en rapport:eso1030
Taille:2500 x 1406 px

À propos de l'objet

Nom:R136a1
Type:Local Universe : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Blue Supergiant
Distance:170000 années lumière
Catégorie:Illustrations

Formats des images

Grand JPEG
255,9 Kio