Astronomers have captured the first-ever “zoomed-in” image of a star outside our Milky Way galaxy. The star is called WOH G64 and is located 160,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way.
WOH G64 is an extremely large “red supergiant” star, about 2,000 times the size of our Sun. The team used the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) to image the star in detail.
The image revealed a surrounding “cocoon” of gas and dust, indicating that WOH G64 is in the final stages of its life and will eventually end in a supernova explosion.
Astronomers have observed the star dimming over the past decade, as it sheds its outer layers of material. This provides a rare opportunity to witness the death throes of a massive star in real-time.
While this first detailed image of a star outside the Milky Way is a significant achievement, it may become increasingly difficult to image WOH G64 as it continues to dim. Future upgrades to the VLTI may allow for additional observations.
The study provides unique insights into the final stages of a star’s life cycle beyond the boundaries of our own galaxy.
Source: Space
