Stars just got bigger: A 300-solar-mass star uncovered
Wednesday, July 21, 2010 - 09:14
in Astronomy & Space
Using a combination of instruments on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope, astronomers have discovered the most massive stars to date, one weighing at birth more than 300 times the mass of the Sun, or twice as much as the currently accepted limit of 150 solar masses. The existence of these monsters — millions of times more luminous than the Sun, losing weight through very powerful winds — may provide an answer to the question “how massive can stars be?”