* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Thursday, May 8, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Blackstone River Theatre presents music from Scotland with Cantrip – The Valley Breeze

    Experience the Enchanting Sounds of Scotland: Cantrip Takes the Stage at Blackstone River Theatre!

    The viral wireless audio dongle for in-flight entertainment just got a big upgrade – and I love it – ZDNET

    Game-Changer for In-Flight Entertainment: The Upgraded Wireless Audio Dongle You’ll Love!

    Tahoe City Downtown Association opens 4th of July Entertainment Grant Program – Sierra Sun

    Celebrate Independence Day: Tahoe City Launches Exciting 4th of July Entertainment Grant Program!

    WEBTOON Entertainment Revolutionizes Webcomic Discovery with Innovative New Personalization Features and Product Updates – Business Wire

    Unlocking a New Era of Webcomic Discovery: WEBTOON’s Exciting Personalization Features and Updates!

    What does Gen Z consider entertainment? – The Drum

    Unlocking Gen Z’s Entertainment Preferences: What Captivates the Next Generation

    MSQ Sport + Entertainment appoints Steph Lund as North America CEO – Campaign US

    Steph Lund Takes the Helm as CEO of MSQ Sport + Entertainment in North America!

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Trump administration set to overhaul Biden’s AI chip export regulations – TechHQ

    Trump administration set to overhaul Biden’s AI chip export regulations – TechHQ

    Technology is the key to empathy in insurance – InsuranceNewsNet

    Unlocking Empathy: How Technology is Transforming the Insurance Experience

    Technology – Inflexion

    Revolutionizing the Future: The Impact of Cutting-Edge Technology

    Outdated technology and stress-related absences contribute to Newark Airport chaos – Travel Weekly

    How Outdated Technology and Stress Are Fueling Chaos at Newark Airport

    Tech & AI LIVE London: Q&A with IBM’s Nabeel Nawaz – Technology Magazine

    Tech & AI LIVE London: Q&A with IBM’s Nabeel Nawaz – Technology Magazine

    Radar Technology Offers Contactless Vital Sign Monitoring for Rural Healthcare – AZoSensors

    Revolutionizing Rural Healthcare: How Radar Technology Enables Contactless Vital Sign Monitoring

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Blackstone River Theatre presents music from Scotland with Cantrip – The Valley Breeze

    Experience the Enchanting Sounds of Scotland: Cantrip Takes the Stage at Blackstone River Theatre!

    The viral wireless audio dongle for in-flight entertainment just got a big upgrade – and I love it – ZDNET

    Game-Changer for In-Flight Entertainment: The Upgraded Wireless Audio Dongle You’ll Love!

    Tahoe City Downtown Association opens 4th of July Entertainment Grant Program – Sierra Sun

    Celebrate Independence Day: Tahoe City Launches Exciting 4th of July Entertainment Grant Program!

    WEBTOON Entertainment Revolutionizes Webcomic Discovery with Innovative New Personalization Features and Product Updates – Business Wire

    Unlocking a New Era of Webcomic Discovery: WEBTOON’s Exciting Personalization Features and Updates!

    What does Gen Z consider entertainment? – The Drum

    Unlocking Gen Z’s Entertainment Preferences: What Captivates the Next Generation

    MSQ Sport + Entertainment appoints Steph Lund as North America CEO – Campaign US

    Steph Lund Takes the Helm as CEO of MSQ Sport + Entertainment in North America!

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Trump administration set to overhaul Biden’s AI chip export regulations – TechHQ

    Trump administration set to overhaul Biden’s AI chip export regulations – TechHQ

    Technology is the key to empathy in insurance – InsuranceNewsNet

    Unlocking Empathy: How Technology is Transforming the Insurance Experience

    Technology – Inflexion

    Revolutionizing the Future: The Impact of Cutting-Edge Technology

    Outdated technology and stress-related absences contribute to Newark Airport chaos – Travel Weekly

    How Outdated Technology and Stress Are Fueling Chaos at Newark Airport

    Tech & AI LIVE London: Q&A with IBM’s Nabeel Nawaz – Technology Magazine

    Tech & AI LIVE London: Q&A with IBM’s Nabeel Nawaz – Technology Magazine

    Radar Technology Offers Contactless Vital Sign Monitoring for Rural Healthcare – AZoSensors

    Revolutionizing Rural Healthcare: How Radar Technology Enables Contactless Vital Sign Monitoring

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home Science

A colossal star erupts: Examining one of the largest stars in the Milky Way as it fades from view

January 8, 2024
in Science
A colossal star erupts: Examining one of the largest stars in the Milky Way as it fades from view
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

A colossal star erupts: examining one of the largest stars in the Milky Way as it fades from view

CHARA Array false-color images of RW Cephei from December 2022 (left) and Jul 2023 (right). The patchy appearance results from dust created by a huge ejection from the star. The star is huge but it is so far away that it appears about one million times smaller than the full moon in the sky. Credit: Georgia State University / The CHARA Array

Astronomers from Georgia State University’s CHARA Array have captured the first close-up images of a massive star known as RW Cephei that recently experienced a strange fading event. The images are providing new clues about what’s happening around the massive star approximately 16,000 light years from Earth.

Detailed images and observations along with intelligent algorithms created by the team of scientists suggest a grand eruption that launched a gas cloud from RW Cephei, blocking a large fraction of starlight from view. Experts from Georgia State’s CHARA Array presented the new findings at the 243rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society in New Orleans. The research is published in The Astronomical Journal.

Scientists were surprised last year by the fading of the enormous star, which is an example of a “cool hypergiant,” a star that has grown to huge dimensions as it approaches the end of its life. RW Cephei is so large that if it were placed at the sun’s location, its outer layers would reach beyond the orbit of Jupiter.

“We made our first CHARA observations in December 2022, just before the winter weather closure, but the results were so remarkable we decided to pursue additional observations once the star was accessible again,” said Georgia State University astronomer Narsireddy Anugu, who led an international team of scientists in a quest to make the first close-up pictures of RW Cephei to determine the source of the fading.

Old stars display light variations that are related to changes in their outer layers. The changes are usually small, so scientists were amazed when astronomers Wolfgang Vollmann and Costantino Sigismondi announced in 2022 that RW Cephei had faded dramatically over the previous few years. By December 2022, RW Cephei had faded to about one-third of its normal brightness, an unprecedented drop. Scientists wanted to figure out what was causing this great dimming.

Despite its huge size, RW Cephei is so far away that it appears as a pinpoint even using the largest of conventional telescopes. To see the star close up required the remarkable abilities of the Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) Array telescopes.

The CHARA Array is a six-telescope facility located at the historic Mount Wilson Observatory in California. The telescopes are placed across the mountaintop to act together like one enormous telescope. The combination of their light beams gives the CHARA Array the ability to see details on very tiny objects in the sky, about 30 times smaller than the largest conventional telescopes, and smaller than a human on the moon as seen from Earth.

The CHARA observations showed that the star did not appear round, as expected, but to make a picture with full details required specialized computer programs created by Georgia State University Associate Professor of Astronomy Fabien Baron.

“The spacing of the CHARA telescopes induces a level of uncertainty in the exact details of the pictures, so we need intelligent algorithms to recover the whole image,” Baron said.

The final pictures show a star convulsed by motions in its outer layers that create fainter and brighter patches across its surface. Furthermore, the appearance changed significantly over the 10-month period of observations that coincided with the transition from its faintest state to a slow recovery toward its former brightness.

The final piece of the puzzle came from additional observations of RW Cephei that were made by Georgia State University graduate student Katherine Shepard at the Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico. Shepard used a special camera to record the light from RW Cephei from the visible to the infrared, and these measurements showed that the fading was much larger in the visible colors compared to the infrared. This is a tell-tale sign that the starlight was obscured by microscopic dust clouds blocking our view.

Taken together, the observations suggest that RW Cephei experienced a huge eruption that launched a vast cloud of gas. As the cloud moved away, it cooled and created swarms of dust particles that effectively blocked a large fraction of starlight. Now, as the cloud expands away, we are beginning to see the star again and its troubled surroundings.

CHARA Director Douglas Gies thinks that this may be one of several grand eruptions that have wracked RW Cephei over the last century and that such eruptions will continue to play a role in mass loss before the star’s demise.

“This one was special because the cloud was ejected in the direction of Earth, so we were in the right place to witness the full effects of the cataclysm,” Gies said.

More information:
Narsireddy Anugu et al, The Great Dimming of the Hypergiant Star RW Cephei: CHARA Array Images and Spectral Analysis, The Astronomical Journal (2023). DOI: 10.3847/1538-3881/ace59d

Citation:
A colossal star erupts: Examining one of the largest stars in the Milky Way as it fades from view (2024, January 8)
retrieved 8 January 2024
from https://phys.org/news/2024-01-colossal-star-erupts-largest-stars.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : Phys.org – https://phys.org/news/2024-01-colossal-star-erupts-largest-stars.html

Tags: Colossaleruptsscience
Previous Post

Study of Darwin’s finches sheds light on how one species become many

Next Post

Urbanization has led some Costa Rican water sources to exceed safety levels: Study

Winner–loser plant trait replacements in human-modified tropical forests – Nature

May 8, 2025
WTMS Science & Social Studies wins State Championship at Academic Super Bowl Competition – Valpo.Life

WTMS Science & Social Studies Team Clinches State Championship at Academic Super Bowl!

May 8, 2025
Europe turns its back on the wolf and on science – WWF EU

Europe’s Struggle: Balancing Conservation and Controversy Over Wolves

May 8, 2025
Creative and Thoughtful Gifts for Mom – WCPO 9 Cincinnati

Heartfelt and Unique Gift Ideas to Delight Mom

May 8, 2025
Geophysicists pinpoint location of Yellowstone magma reservoir – Physics World

Geophysicists Uncover the Hidden Secrets of Yellowstone’s Magma Reservoir!

May 8, 2025
Economy: China Extends A Hand To The U.S…. But At What Cost? – Cointribune

China Reaches Out to the U.S.: What Are the Hidden Costs

May 8, 2025
Blackstone River Theatre presents music from Scotland with Cantrip – The Valley Breeze

Experience the Enchanting Sounds of Scotland: Cantrip Takes the Stage at Blackstone River Theatre!

May 8, 2025
Sonde Health and Saaya Health Forge Strategic Partnership to Improve Workforce Performance and Wellness for Blue-Collar Enterprises – Business Wire

Transforming Blue-Collar Workplaces: Sonde Health and Saaya Health Join Forces to Boost Performance and Wellness

May 8, 2025
Friedrich Merz calls for US to ‘stay out’ of German politics – The Guardian

Friedrich Merz Urges the US to Keep Its Distance from German Politics

May 8, 2025
Update On How Centers Of Platform Gravity Are Shaping The Cybersecurity Technology Market – Seeking Alpha

How Centers of Platform Gravity Are Transforming the Cybersecurity Technology Landscape

May 8, 2025

Categories

Archives

May 2025
MTWTFSS
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031 
« Apr    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (592)
  • Economy (603)
  • Entertainment (21,516)
  • General (15,209)
  • Health (9,646)
  • Lifestyle (608)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (606)
  • Politics (610)
  • Science (15,825)
  • Sports (21,113)
  • Technology (15,593)
  • World (593)

Recent News

Winner–loser plant trait replacements in human-modified tropical forests – Nature

May 8, 2025
WTMS Science & Social Studies wins State Championship at Academic Super Bowl Competition – Valpo.Life

WTMS Science & Social Studies Team Clinches State Championship at Academic Super Bowl!

May 8, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version