Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer, astronomers have now obtained the first-ever detailed image of a star outside our Milky Way: WOH G64 is a giant red supergiant star that resides 160,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Though advanced telescopes can resolve other galaxies down to their stars, none of those stars has ever been observed in great detail because they appeared simply as points of light.
What Did Astronomers Discover About WOH G64?
The star is enveloped in an egg-shaped cocoon of gas and dust-a feature revealed in unprecedented detail. Dr Keiichi Ohnaka, an astrophysicist at the Andrés Bello National University in Chile, said that this discovery might be linked to the dramatic ejection of material from the dying star. WOH G64 is roughly 2,000 times the diameter of the Sun and may be going through a transition that heralds the final stages of its life cycle. Such findings could offer a rare opportunity for scientists to learn what happens to massive stars before they blow up as supernovae.
Why is the Cocoon Egg-Shaped?
The peculiarly elongated shape of the cocoon of dust and gas surrounding WOH G64 could be due to either its rotation or the influence of a companion star that has not yet been discovered. Which one is responsible remains anyone’s guess, but the mystery further adds intrigue to this stellar giant. The scientists believed that the outer layers of the star were ejected relatively recently, leaving behind this gas-and-dust envelope.
What Does This Mean for the Star’s Future?
Astronomers believe this discovery could signify that WOH G64 is nearing its final act—a supernova explosion. Massive stars like this release energy in their death equivalent to the Sun’s 10-billion-year lifespan. Dr. Jacco van Loon of Keele University stated that while the explosion may still be tens of thousands of years away, the current changes are considered imminent by astronomical standards. The observation is a rare vision of a supernova’s pre-explosion phase event whose annihilative beauty has only been inferred up to date through observations in retrospect.
