NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day 18 March 2023: Wolf-Rayet 124 star-30x BIGGER than Sun
One of the most luminous and massive stars, known as Wolf-Rayet 124, has been snapped by NASA. The US space agency has shared it as its Astronomy Picture of the Day on March 18.
It was first observed by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope in June 2022. It is around 15000 light-years distant toward the northern constellation Sagitta.
Most shockingly, it has over 30 times the mass of the Sun.NASA said while sharing the photo, “Driven by powerful stellar winds, expanding shrouds of gas and dust frame hot, luminous star Wolf-Rayet 124 in this sharp infrared view.
The eye-catching 6-spike star pattern is characteristic of stellar images made with the 18 hexagonal mirrors of the James Webb Space Telescope. "This star's turbulent nebula, which spans almost 6 light-years, was formed during a brief and infrequently occurring phase of massive star evolution within the Milky Way, NASA explained.
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