VY Canis Majoris is situated at around 3. It is one of the biggest stars ever observed and detected in the Milky Way galaxy. VY Canis Majoris has been estimated to have around 17 solar masses, and it is believed that it's lost more than half its mass. If this hypergiant would be placed in the center of the solar system , its surface would extend beyond the orbit of Jupiter , and some estimate it would extend up to the orbit of Saturn.
It is an extreme oxygen-rich and pulsating variable star. It has an apparent magnitude that varies from 6. This hypergiant is losing its mass to a rate of around 30 times the mass of Earth every single year. Much of this material has taken the shape of a cloud of dust and gas around the star. It is speculated that the hypergiant has already lost more than half of its mass. The hypergiant is around VY Canis Majoris is cooler than our sun, with an estimated surface temperature of around 3.
Our Sun has around 5. The remnant will either be a neutron star or a black hole. VY Canis Majoris is at the end of its life. But the hottest known stars in the Universe are the blue hypergiant stars.
These are stars with more than times the mass of the Sun. One of the best known examples is Eta Carinae, located about 7, light-years from the Sun. It was first reported in and has been studied several times. For perspective, the universe is only You can fit 9. But as well as burning up their fuel quickly, they also throw out billions of tons of gas and matter in violent explosions and outbursts — this further shortens the life of the star. It is believed that VY Canis Majoris has already shed half of its original mass, and could literally reach hypernovae at any time, but some astronomers believe that the star has the capability to last nearly another , years.
Hypernovae are a rare form of supernova, producing enough energy that they easily equal regular supernovae. The core collapse of the star is so fast that the gamma rays produced can decompose the nuclei of elements such as iron inside the star.
In a regular supernova this extremely dense ball could become a neutron star or a pulsar, but the unusually high mass of VY Canis Majoris or a similar hypergiant would result in the formation of a rogue stellar-mass black hole… with an explosion of gamma rays that has the ability to wipe out any cellular life in nearby solar systems.
In fact, there are only a little more than 10 hypergiants recorded out of the billion other stars present in the Milky way. For a few days or weeks, the wreckage of the explosion will outshine the rest of the galaxy, and be easily visible from here on Earth. Skip to content. Like this: Like Loading
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