The Fastest Spinning Star in the Universe --2 Million KPH!
ESO's Very Large Telescope has picked up the fastest rotating star found so far. This massive bright young star lies in our neighbouring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud, about 160 000 light-years from Earth. Astronomers think that it may have had a violent past and has been ejected from a double star system by its exploding companion.
An international team of astronomers has been using ESO’s Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile, to make a survey of the heaviest and brightest stars in the Tarantula Nebula (eso1117), in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
Among the many brilliant stars in this stellar nursery the team has spotted one, called VFTS 102, that is rotating at more than two million kilometers per hour — more than three hundred times faster than the Sun and very close to the point at which it would be torn apart due to centrifugal forces. VFTS 102 is the fastest rotating star known to date.
The astronomers also found that the star, which is around 25 times the mass of the Sun and about one hundred thousand times brighter, was moving through space at a significantly different speed from its neighbors.
“The remarkable rotation speed and the unusual motion compared to the surrounding stars led us to wonder if this star had had an unusual early life. We were suspicious.” explains Philip Dufton 0f Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK, lead author of the paper presenting the results.
This difference in speed could imply that VFTS 102 is a runaway star — a star that has been ejected from a double star system after its companion exploded as a supernova. This idea is supported by two further clues: a pulsar and an associated supernova remnant in its vicinity [5].
The team has developed a possible back story for this very unusual star. It could have started life as one component of a binary star system. If the two stars were close, gas from the companion could have streamed over and in the process the star would have spun faster and faster. This would explain one unusual fact — why it is rotating so fast. After a short lifetime of about ten million years, the massive companion would have exploded as a supernova — which could explain the characteristic gas cloud known as a supernova remnant found nearby.
The explosion would also have led to the ejection of the star and could explain the third anomaly — the difference between its speed and that of other stars in the region. As it collapsed, the massive companion would have turned into the pulsar that is observed today, and which completes the solution to the puzzle.
Although the astronomers cannot yet be sure that this is exactly what happened, Dufton concludes “This is a compelling story because it explains each of the unusual features that we’ve seen. This star is certainly showing us unexpected sides of the short, but dramatic lives of the heaviest stars.”
Among the many brilliant stars in this stellar nursery the team has spotted one, called VFTS 102, that is rotating at more than two million kilometers per hour — more than three hundred times faster than the Sun and very close to the point at which it would be torn apart due to centrifugal forces. VFTS 102 is the fastest rotating star known to date.
The astronomers also found that the star, which is around 25 times the mass of the Sun and about one hundred thousand times brighter, was moving through space at a significantly different speed from its neighbors.
“The remarkable rotation speed and the unusual motion compared to the surrounding stars led us to wonder if this star had had an unusual early life. We were suspicious.” explains Philip Dufton 0f Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK, lead author of the paper presenting the results.
This difference in speed could imply that VFTS 102 is a runaway star — a star that has been ejected from a double star system after its companion exploded as a supernova. This idea is supported by two further clues: a pulsar and an associated supernova remnant in its vicinity [5].
The team has developed a possible back story for this very unusual star. It could have started life as one component of a binary star system. If the two stars were close, gas from the companion could have streamed over and in the process the star would have spun faster and faster. This would explain one unusual fact — why it is rotating so fast. After a short lifetime of about ten million years, the massive companion would have exploded as a supernova — which could explain the characteristic gas cloud known as a supernova remnant found nearby.
The explosion would also have led to the ejection of the star and could explain the third anomaly — the difference between its speed and that of other stars in the region. As it collapsed, the massive companion would have turned into the pulsar that is observed today, and which completes the solution to the puzzle.
Although the astronomers cannot yet be sure that this is exactly what happened, Dufton concludes “This is a compelling story because it explains each of the unusual features that we’ve seen. This star is certainly showing us unexpected sides of the short, but dramatic lives of the heaviest stars.”
Comments
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I think they need to take a closer look at the giant arrow thats pointing at the star. Who made it?? How long has it pointed at the star?? Could it be getting us to look AWAY from something??? Its too perfect formed to be naturally formed. Hmmmmmm
Posted by: smartypants | December 07, 2011 at 04:09 PM
I find it very interesting that something so huge can form pn the Univrese. Stars are another life that changes things so beautifully. Stars roating so fast can give mass to create formation and how earlier in life did it begin.
Posted by: rebecca laapui | July 15, 2012 at 07:43 PM
that is just theretical we can only tell whats in the visible universe there very well could be a faster star
Posted by: sam | April 30, 2013 at 12:12 PM