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Scientists Discover Biggest and Brightest Star

   VOA News 21 July 2010
   This  image  provided by the European Southern Observatory shows a new
   near-infrared  image  of the R136 cluster, obtained at high resolution
   with the MAD adaptive optics instrument at the ESOâs Very Larg

Photo: AP

   This  image  provided by the European Southern Observatory shows a new
   near-infrared  image  of the R136 cluster, obtained at high resolution
   with  the  MAD  adaptive  optics  instrument  at  the ESOâs Very Large
   Telescope which provides unique details of its stellar content.

   British  scientists  have  discovered  a  star  they say is bigger and
   brighter than any other.
   The star, known as R136a1, once weighed more than 320 times the weight
   of  our  sun.   Today,  the  star weighs 265 times the sun and shines
   nearly 10 million times brighter.  It also is seven times hotter than
   the sun. Â
   The  giant  ball of brightly burning gas was found 165,000 light years
   away,  in  a  star cluster of the Tarantula Nebula -- a large cloud of
   gas and dust moving through a neighboring galaxy.
   One  of  the  scientists, astrophysicist Paul Crowther, says stars are
   "born heavy and lose weight as they age."
   Stars  like  R136a1  are  so bright and put out so much energy that it
   shortens  their  life  span.   Also,  the cluster of stars they often
   reside in makes them very difficult to spot.
   The  findings  were  published  in  the  Monthly  Notices of the Royal
   Astronomical Society.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP.

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