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Explanation: Imagine traveling to a star about 100 times as massive as our Sun, a million times more luminous, and with 30 times the surface temperature. Such stars exist, and some are known as Wolf Rayet (WR) stars, named after French astronomers Charles Wolf and Georges Rayet. The central star in this image is WR 40 which is located toward the constellation of Carina. Stars like WR 40 live fast and die young in comparison with the Sun. They quickly exhaust their core hydrogen supply, move on to fusing heavier core elements, and expand while ejecting their outer layers via high stellar winds. In this case, the central star WR 40 ejects the atmosphere at a speed of nearly 100 kilometers per second, and these outer layers have become the expanding oval-shaped nebula RCW 58.
Almost Hyperspace:
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Wolf-Rayet star
Publications with words: Wolf-Rayet star
See also:
- APOD: 2025 March 17 Á Thors Helmet
- APOD: 2025 February 3 Á Wolf Rayet Star 124: Stellar Wind Machine
- APOD: 2025 January 29 Á Dust Shells around WR 140 from Webb
- Sharpless 308: The Dolphin Head Nebula
- APOD: 2024 January 9 Á Thors Helmet
- APOD: 2023 March 29 Á Sh2-308: A Dolphin Shaped Star Bubble
- Wolf Rayet 124