LONDON: The Hubble Space Telescope recently spotted a star never-before-seen in the Milky Way, or anywhere else. The massive star, which lies some 3,000 light-years from Earth, has been tentatively labeled a Wolf-Rayet.
But while most Wolf-Rayet stars are marked by their twin polar lobes of burning gas, the newly discovered star is surrounded by a large, flat disk of gas, measuring some 2 trillion miles wide. Scientists believe they’re observing a Wolf-Rayet in a never-before-seen (and likely short-lived) transition phase.
The star’s catalog name (NaSt1) inspired astronomers to nickname it Nasty 1. But its strange appearance and the source of its unusual nature align with the moniker.
Wolf-Rayet stars are defined by their large size and exposed insides. As these massive stars are stripped of their hydrogen-filled outer layers, they swell in size, and their super-hot helium-burning cores are revealed.
Until recently, the main explanation for Wolf-Rayet hydrogen depletion was erosion. Scientists believe strong stellar winds from companion stars blow the outer layers of gas away. But this model can’t account for all scenarios, and Nasty 1 suggests theft is likely also involved. Astronomers dub the theft “mass-exchange.”
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