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APOD: 2025 February 3 Á Wolf Rayet Star 124: Stellar Wind Machine
Explanation:
Some stars explode in slow motion.
Rare, massive
Wolf-Rayet stars
are so tumultuous and hot that they are slowly disintegrating right before our telescopes.
Glowing gas globs each typically over 30 times more massive than
the Earth
are being expelled by violent stellar winds.
Wolf-Rayet star
WR 124, visible near the
featured image center and spanning six
light years across,
is thus creating the surrounding nebula known as
M1-67.
Details of why
this star has been slowly blowing itself
apart over the past 20,000 years remains a topic of research.
WR 124
lies 15,000 light-years away towards the
constellation
of the Arrow
(Sagitta).
The fate of any given
Wolf-Rayet star
likely depends on how massive it is,
but many are thought to end their lives with
spectacular
explosions such as
supernovas or
gamma-ray
bursts.
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
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Based on Astronomy Picture
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Publications with keywords: Wolf-Rayet star
Publications with words: Wolf-Rayet star
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