NEW YORK: Hubble Space Telescope has observed a hefty, rapidly aging star that is so odd, it has been nicknamed “Nasty 1” (playing off its catalog name NaSt1).The star may represent a brief transitory stage in the evolution of extremely massive stars.
First discovered several decades ago, Nasty 1 was identified as a Wolf-Rayet star, a rapidly evolving star that is much more massive than our sun. The star loses its hydrogen-filled outer layers quickly, exposing its super-hot and extremely bright helium-burning core.
