If you’ve ever wondered what a dying star looks like right when it’s about to bite the dust, wonder no more: NASA has just released an image taken by its Hubble Space Telescope which reveals the bright star known as Herschel 36 in its final death throes, a process that the agency says generally takes tens of thousands of years.
What Does a Dying Star Look Like?
The picture posted by NASA shows Herschel 36 surrounded by a gas cloud that left its core exposed for the photograph. Emanating from the gas cloud are radiant wisps of orange and blue hues, creating a truly spectacular sight. These colors are the result of ultraviolet light powering the gas cloud that surrounds the dying star, and match the colors seen within the Ring Nebula. Because the images combine optical light and infrared light, people can see right into the heart of the nebula to witness a spectacle that has taken tens of thousands of years to transpire.
Herschel 36: The Central Star of the Lagoon Nebula Messier 8
The dying star Herschel 36 is located in the Lagoon Nebula, and it is the central star of that nebula. It is classified as a blue star, and is known to be the youngest main sequence star that has been observed to date. Main sequence stars are stars that contain helium atoms at their cores, atoms that were formed as a result of the fusion of hydrogen atoms. It is estimated that about 90% of all the stars in the universe are main sequence stars, including our own sun. The dying star Herschel 36 can be found within the stellar neighborhood of the Sagittarius constellation.
The Significance of a Dying Star
A dying star is important to take note of, because of the possible outcomes of a star’s death. If the star is about 1.4 times bigger than the size of our own sun, it collapses into a white dwarf because it is unable to support itself against the forces of its own gravity. If the star is up to three times bigger than our sun, its death results in a neutron star. Any bigger than that, however, and the chances are that the gravitational forces at work are too great for the star to overcome, and it collapses in on itself, forming a black hole. One of the most fascinating possible outcomes of a dying star, though, is if it goes through a supernova and expels excess mass into the universe, as such an event is known to be one of the brightest sights in the night sky.
Stars and all things intergalactic are an adventure unto themselves. Give your kids an at-home space-related adventure:
