WR 102ka
The "Peony Nebula," as discovered by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. This three-color infrared composite shows 3.6-micrometre light in blue, 8-micrometre light in green, and 24-micrometre light in red. The Peony nebula is the reddish cloud of dust in and around the white circle, surrounding the Peony nebular star. | |
Observation data Epoch J2000. Equinox J2000. | |
---|---|
Constellation | Sagittarius |
Right ascension | 17h 46m 18.12s[1] |
Declination | −29° 01′ 36.5″[1] |
Characteristics | |
Evolutionary stage | Slash star
|
Spectral type | Ofpe/WN9[2] |
Apparent magnitude (J) | 13.0[1] |
Apparent magnitude (H) | 10.3[1] |
Apparent magnitude (K) | 8.8[1] |
J−H color index | 2.7[1] |
J−K color index | 4.2[1] |
Variable type | |
Details | |
Myr | |
G000.0003-00.1743 | |
Database references | |
SIMBAD | data |
WR 102ka, also known as the Peony star, is a
Discovery
WR 102ka lies near the
Narrowband infrared observations of several spectral features around 2 μm showed that WR 102ka was a Wolf Rayet star with a likely classification of WN10.[7] It was also proposed as a possible luminous blue variable.[8]
The Spitzer Space Telescope observed WR 102ka at wavelengths of 3.6 μm, 8 μm, and 24 μm on April 20, 2005. These observations allowed the first reliable calculations of the physical properties of this extremely luminous object.[2]
Other luminous Milky Way stars
The closer star WR 25 may be more luminous than WR 102ka.[9] Another nearer star, Eta Carinae, which was the second-brightest star in the sky for a few years in the 19th century, appears to be slightly more luminous than WR 102ka, but is known to be a binary star system. There is also the more recently discovered Pistol Star that, like the Peony star, derives its name from the shape of the nebula in which it is embedded, and which it has probably created through heavy mass loss via strong stellar winds and perhaps also "mini-supernova-like" eruptions as happened to Eta Carinae around the 1830s–1840s creating the lobes observed by the Hubble Space Telescope.[10]
The luminosities of the Pistol Star, Eta Carinae, and WR 102ka are all rendered somewhat uncertain due to heavy obscuration by galactic dust in the foreground, the effects of which must be corrected for before their apparent brightness can be reduced to estimate their total radiated power or bolometric luminosity.[11] Both Eta Carinae and WR 102ka are believed likely to explode as supernovas or hypernovae within the next few million years.[12][9] As is typical of such extremely massive and luminous stars, both have expelled a considerable portion of their initial mass, when originally formed, in dense, massive stellar winds.[13][9]
See also
References
- ^ S2CID 18913331.
- ^ S2CID 8074261.
- ^ S2CID 118513968.
- Bibcode:2011BSRSL..80...98H.
- Bibcode:2015wrs..conf..365S.
- S2CID 18314394.
- S2CID 11814077.
- .
- ^ a b c "WR 102ka – a Blue Supergiant Star - Assignment Point". Retrieved 2022-03-08.
- ^ Garner, Rob (2019-07-01). "Hubble Captures the Galaxy's Biggest Ongoing Stellar Fireworks Show". NASA. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
- Bibcode:1962IAUS...15..347Z. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
- ^ Elizabeth Howell (2022-01-26). "Eta Carinae's epic supernova explosion comes to life in new visualization". Space.com. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
- ^ "The turbulent heart of Eta Carinae". www.mpg.de. Retrieved 2022-03-08.