# Biggest stars seen



## Brian G Turner (May 30, 2004)

Astronomers hunting massive stars in a bid to understand the early Universe have set a new record.

    In April, Gregor Rauw, of the University of Liege in Belgium, and colleagues suggested that an object called WR 20a in the constellation Carina could be two giant stars orbiting each other. That would explain its otherwise puzzling spectrum of light.

    Now further observations by Alceste Bonanos and colleagues at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, show Rauw's team were right.

    They analysed the variation in brightness of WR 20a for 17 nights using the 1.3-metre Warsaw telescope at the Los Campanas Observatory in La Serena, Chile. 

    The observations indicate that each star weighs 80 solar masses - the previous record was about 60 solar masses. The pair orbit at an angle of almost 75°, so that they alternately partially eclipse each other, and take just 3.7 days to circle each other.

    It is the dimming of light caused by the partial eclipses that enables astronomers to determine their mass and orbit. "We can only measure masses of stars accurately in binary systems," says Bonanos.


 More: http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99995046


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## Stalker (Jun 2, 2005)

Double system very much alike *Algol *(Beta Persei). Actually, these are not what we may call the biggest stars. *Betelgeuse* (Alpha Orionis) or *Antares* (Alpha Scorpii), or even *Capella* (Alpha Aurigae) should be mach bigger.


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## HieroGlyph (Dec 22, 2005)

Anyone a star-gazer and have an idea of what can be seen up there?
I think that there are known stars of up to 150 Sun masses. But these live only for a few million years before exploding.
What about the brightest star you can see that is at some phenomenal distance? I think Deneb comes in as one of these - huge and bright and immensly far away, in comparison with say Lyra (where The Alien was found ) beautiful and bright,  but a mere 26 light years from us. And what was that I read about Eta Carina: immense in mass or absolute magnitude? I recall not.
And P.S. there is not much in the way of a 'Nature' forum upon these boards  , as in the natural world on Earth...


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## dreamwalker (Dec 22, 2005)

Watch the most recent sky at night. (I think theres an episode on the bbc you can download)

They mention a star at 150 solar masses at the upper limit of star sizes. Apperently star's like these burn for only 30 million years at many thousands of times the liminosity of our star. During there main seqence there called blue giants.


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## HieroGlyph (Dec 24, 2005)

dreamwalker said:
			
		

> Watch the most recent sky at night.


I did watch the last one. But the great man himself comes out with so many facts at such a rate if you blink you may miss one!!!
Least I had the pleasure of shaking Patrick Moore's hand and saying, "I think I got the gist of things..." (RL)
lol A place I dont mind stating my claim to fame!!!


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