Westerlund 1-26
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Stern Westerlund 1-26 |
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| Image of the super star cluster Westerlund 1 . Wd 1-26 is the reddish star on the left above the center of the picture | |||
| AladinLite | |||
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Observation dates equinox : J2000.0 , epoch : J2000.0 |
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| Constellation | altar | ||
| Right ascension | 16 h 47 m 5.4 s | ||
| declination | -45 ° 50 ′ 36.8 ″ | ||
| Apparent brightness | 16.8 likes | ||
| Typing | |||
| Spectral class | M2-5 Ia | ||
| Astrometry | |||
| Physical Properties | |||
| radius | 1530-1580 or 2000 R ☉ | ||
| Luminosity |
3.2 * 10 5 L ☉ |
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Other names and catalog entries |
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Westerlund 1-26 or W26 is an extreme red supergiant . With an estimated radius of 1,530 to 1,580 times the radius of the Sun , possibly even 2000 R ☉ , it is one of the largest currently known stars in the universe . This would make W26 almost as big as Stephenson 2-18 , who is currently the largest known star at 2150 R ☉ .
W26 is located in the super star cluster Westerlund 1 in the constellation Altar (Latin: Ara ). It is around 16,000 light-years away from Earth and has probably already exploded as a supernova . Astronomers conclude from an ionized nebula that envelops the star. This was discovered by the European Southern Observatory . The group consisting of hydrogen existing fog indicates that W26 to mass loses. Since similar processes were already observed in 1987 in the blue supergiant Sanduleak -69 ° 202 in the Large Magellanic Cloud , which exploded a little later as supernova 1987A , this could indicate a similar development.
Surname
The star cluster Westerlund 1 , in which W26 is located, was discovered by Bengt Westerlund in 1961 and named after him.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d http://arxiv.org/pdf/1309.4086v1.pdf p. 3
- ↑ a b http://arxiv.org/pdf/1105.0776v1.pdf p. 8 "[..] these stars have such a large physical extent (eg ∼ 2000 R ☉ for the RSG W26 assuming an intrinsic luminosity of log ( L / L ☉ ) ∼ 5.8) [..] "
- ^ B. Westerlund: A Heavily Reddened Cluster in Ara . In: Astronomical Journal . 70, 1961, p. 57. bibcode : 1961AJ ..... 66T..57W . doi : 10.1086 / 108585 .