Astronomers discover largest star on record

European astronomers have discovered the largest star yet on record; it is 300 times the mass of our sun, beyond the previously accepted limit of 150 solar masses.
Paul Crowther, professor of astrophysics at the University of Sheffield, led the team of researchers that discovered the star. The team used the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, and data archived from the Hubble Space Telescope. The newly discovered star, designated R136a1, was discovered in the R136 star cluster.
The researchers estimate that the current mass of the star is about 265 solar masses, and could have been about 320 solar masses just after its birth.
"Unlike humans," says Cowther, "these stars are born heavy and lose weight as they age. Being a little over a million years old, the most extreme star R136a1 is already middle-aged, and has undergone an intense weight loss programme, shedding a fifth of its initial mass over that time, or more than 50 solar masses."
The location of the star, the R136 star cluster, is in the Tarantula nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a neighboring galaxy about 165,000 light-years away. Astronomers are still struggling to understand how these stars form.
"Either they were born so big or smaller stars merged together to produce them," Cowther explained. The researchers believe that the stellar heavyweight record could be held by this star for quite some time. Cowther elaborates: "Owing to the rarity of these monsters, I think it is unlikely that this new record will be broken any time soon."

