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> The massive star Pistol star in Sagittarius

The massive star Pistol star in Sagittarius

author: Nasa/Novapix

reference: a-eto02-00001

Image Size 300 DPI: 19 * 19 cm

Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have identified what may be the most luminous star known " a celestial mammoth which releases up to 10 million times the power of the Sun and is big enough to fill the diameter of Earth's orbit. The star unleashes as much energy in six seconds as our Sun does in one year. The image, taken with the Near-Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) aboard Hubble, also reveals a bright nebula, created by extremely massive stellar eruptions. The nebula is so big (four light-years) that it would nearly span the distance from the Sun to Alpha Centauri, the nearest star to Earth's solar system. The astronomers estimate that when the titanic star was formed one to three million years ago, it may have weighed up to 200 times the mass of the Sun before shedding much of its mass in violent eruptions. The star, called the "Pistol Star" (for the pistol shaped nebula surrounding it), is approximately 25,000 light-years from Earth near the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The Pistol Star is not visible to the eye, but is located in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius, hidden behind the great dust clouds along the Milky Way.

Keywords for this photo:

1997 - ASTRONOMY - HST - HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - HYPERGIANT - INFRARED - MASSIVE STAR - PISTOL - SAGITTARIUS - STAR -