irishspirit
9th October 2010, 13:15
Big is not only beautiful – it's blinding.
Scientists believe they have discovered the heaviest star ever found, and one of the brightest too.
The star, which resides more than 165,000 light-years away in the Tarantula Nebula, is far weightier than Earth's sun and shines 10 million times brighter, experts say.
And the celestial mass was likely even heftier in its younger days.
"Unlike humans, these stars are born heavy and lose weight as they age," said astrophysicist Paul Crowther, at the University of Sheffield in northern England
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2010/07/21/2010-07-21_scientists_find_what_may_be_universes_heaviest_star_report.html#ixzz11rpDsPUt
Scientists believe they have discovered the heaviest star ever found, and one of the brightest too.
The star, which resides more than 165,000 light-years away in the Tarantula Nebula, is far weightier than Earth's sun and shines 10 million times brighter, experts say.
And the celestial mass was likely even heftier in its younger days.
"Unlike humans, these stars are born heavy and lose weight as they age," said astrophysicist Paul Crowther, at the University of Sheffield in northern England
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2010/07/21/2010-07-21_scientists_find_what_may_be_universes_heaviest_star_report.html#ixzz11rpDsPUt