Astronomers spot huge star in stellar ‘womb’

Jul 11, 2013 |

Astronomers on Wednesday reported their best observation yet of a massive star embryo growing within a dark cloud — the largest stellar “womb” ever spotted in our Milky Way galaxy.

The star, which could grow to 100 times the mass of our Sun and up to a million times brighter, was spotted by the most powerful radio telescope on Earth — the ALMA international astronomy facility located in Chile, according to a paper published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.
Astronomers hope its discovery, at a distance of some 11,000 light years from Earth, will shed light on how these exceptionally massive stars are formed, shrouded as they are in dust and mystery.

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