Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2020 March 8

                  Wolf-Rayet Star 124: Stellar Wind Machine
    Image Credit: Hubble Legacy Archive, NASA, ESA; Processing & License:
                                Judy Schmidt

   Explanation: Some stars explode in slow motion. Rare, massive
   Wolf-Rayet stars are so tumultuous and hot that they are slowly
   disintegrating right before our telescopes. Glowing gas globs each
   typically over 30 times more massive than the Earth are being expelled
   by violent stellar winds. Wolf-Rayet star WR 124, visible near the
   featured image center spanning six light years across, is thus creating
   the surrounding nebula known as M1-67. Details of why this star has
   been slowly blowing itself apart over the past 20,000 years remains a
   topic of research. WR 124 lies 15,000 light-years away towards the
   constellation of the Arrow (Sagitta). The fate of any given Wolf-Rayet
   star likely depends on how massive it is, but many are thought to end
   their lives with spectacular explosions such as supernovas or gamma-ray
   bursts.

                   Tomorrow's picture: light after sunset
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
                NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

--- hpt/lnx 1.9.0