Herschel space telescope pierces giant star bubble

BBC News ^ | 5/6/10 | Jonathan Amos

[NormsRevenge]

A colossal star many times the mass of our own Sun is seen growing in a bubble of gas and dust just pictured by the Herschel space observatory.

The image of the bubble, known as RCW 120, has been released a few days ahead of the European telescope's first birthday in orbit on 14 May.

Herschel's infrared detectors are tuned to see the cold materials that give birth to stars.

Pictures like RCW 120 will help explain how really giant ones are made.

The monster in this picture is seen as the small white blob on the bottom edge of the bubble.

The "baby" star is perhaps a few tens of thousands of years old and has yet to ignite the nuclear furnace that will form at its core. But it is some eight to 10 times the mass of our Sun and is surrounded by about 200 times as much material.

If more of that gas and dust continues to fall in on the star, the object has the potential to become one of the Milky Way Galaxy's true giants, and it will go on to have a profound influence on its environment.

"It's the massive stars that control the dynamical and chemical evolution of the galaxy," explained Herschel scientist Dr Annie Zavagno from the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille.

"It's the massive stars that create the heavy elements like iron and they are able to put them in the interstellar medium. And because they end their lives in supernova explosions, they also inject a lot of energy into the galaxy," she told BBC News.

[SunkenCiv]

A colossal star many times the mass of our own Sun is seen growing in a bubble of gas and dust

Thanks NormsRevenge.

· join · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post new topic · subscribe ·

Google news searches: exoplanet · exosolar · extrasolar ·