 idiotfilter
Male, 18-29, Midwest US
 3934 Posts
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Wednesday, July 28, 2010 7:27:20 PM
wow...that's REALLY cool looking.... |
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 Flashbomb7
Male, 13-17, Asia
53 Posts
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Thursday, July 22, 2010 11:23:57 PM
@Steelgrid More like Chuck Norris' 3rd testicle |
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 Steelgrid
Male, 30-39, Midwest US
2685 Posts
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Thursday, July 22, 2010 3:27:02 PM
ItsLance Armstrongs missing testicle!!! |
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 Creabhain
Male, 40-49, Europe
441 Posts
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Thursday, July 22, 2010 1:07:05 PM
I have just finished re-reading "A brief history of time". After years of discovery channel specials it seems a bit old fashioned and quaint but still a worthwhile read. |
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 deepdarkshar
Male, 30-39, Canada
25 Posts
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Thursday, July 22, 2010 1:03:23 PM
does anybody remember this, doesn't really add up.
The Size of Our World |
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 OmgZelda
Female, 18-29, Canada
1600 Posts
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Thursday, July 22, 2010 10:46:53 AM
Pretty |
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 duffytoler
Male, 40-49, Midwest US
5220 Posts
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Thursday, July 22, 2010 7:48:44 AM
>>The people who wrote that article clearly haven't heard of VY Canis Majoris....
That overhyped gas-ball VY Canis Majoris is only about 20x solar mass. This one is 265x solar masses - close to the theoretical limit of about 300x. |
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 meepmaker
Male, 30-39, Southern US
6716 Posts
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Thursday, July 22, 2010 7:41:36 AM
Must be from Texas. |
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 bored-am-I
Male, 30-39, Europe
783 Posts
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Thursday, July 22, 2010 6:05:31 AM
size matters! |
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 techgeek07
Male, 30-39, Eastern US
2559 Posts
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Thursday, July 22, 2010 5:45:53 AM
neat stuff |
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 basketkase
Male, 18-29, Eastern US
1156 Posts
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Thursday, July 22, 2010 4:44:40 AM
what took em so long |
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 fishyboy
Male, 30-39, Europe
177 Posts
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Thursday, July 22, 2010 4:31:07 AM
VY Canis Majoris is around 30-40x the mass of the sun, where as this star is currently around 260x the mass of the sun. VY Canis Majoris is huge because it has a much lower density, and so its radius is about 2000x as wide as our sun.
R136a1 is thought to have been around 320x the mass of our sun, and even at the currently visible 260x, it is still way over what was thought to be the largest mass a star could get to of 150x. Beinging so massive, the gravitational force its gasses exert would be so great that it would have to be much more dense than VY Canis Majoris, and even our sun.
VY Canis Majoris is the largest in terms of dimension/radius, but R136a1 is by far the largest in terms of mass. |
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 Scott_2150
Male, 18-29, Europe
766 Posts
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Thursday, July 22, 2010 4:03:39 AM
The people who wrote that article clearly haven't heard of VY Canis Majoris.... |
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fishyboy
Male, 30-39, Europe
177 Posts
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Thursday, July 22, 2010 3:30:03 AM
@ScottSerious, The length of a star's lifetime is directly linked to its size, the larger the star, the faster it uses its fuel and the shorter its lifetime. Small stars, like our own, live for billions of years, where as a one of this size would use all of its fuel in a few million years. As such, in the last million years it is thought to have used enough fuel to have reduced from 320x the mass of our sun to 260x, so in 160,000 it will have shrunk even more.
Also, as this star is outside our model of known stars and their lives, we do not know at what point the gravity of the star will overcome the pressure of the fusion reaction going on in its core - ie the point where it will explode. It is possible that it has already gone hyper-nova. |
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 TKD_Master
Male, 18-29, Midwest US
4827 Posts
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Thursday, July 22, 2010 2:33:59 AM
"How can they tell how dense it is from this far away? - Just wondering..."
its size versus its gravitational effects on surroundings, such as light.
is this bigger than VY CMa? |
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 moscoworbust
Male, 18-29, Europe
148 Posts
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Thursday, July 22, 2010 1:40:11 AM
spectromogorfaffy |
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 Ozmose
Male, 30-39, Midwest US
383 Posts
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Thursday, July 22, 2010 1:36:53 AM
It's funny to think that when we look at that star the image we're seeing is 165,000 years old. It might not even exist anymore. |
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 beternal
Male, 18-29, Europe
1848 Posts
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Thursday, July 22, 2010 1:28:47 AM
How can they tell how dense it is from this far away? - Just wondering... |
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 Fatninja01
Male, 18-29, Australia
23995 Posts
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Thursday, July 22, 2010 12:58:44 AM
Wow, theres more than meets the eye! |
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 ScottSerious
Male, 18-29, Western US
5329 Posts
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Thursday, July 22, 2010 12:00:10 AM
@humunaha, 165,000 years is nothing to a star. i'm sure it's basically the same as we see it now. |
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 usernaem
Male, 13-17, Australia
47 Posts
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Wednesday, July 21, 2010 11:58:56 PM
"What about VY Canis Majoris?"
VY is 1800-2100 times the radius of the Sun, but only 15-25 solar masses. This newly found star is only about 30 solar radii, and obviously 265 solar masses. So even though this star is a whole lot smaller than VY Canis Majoris, it's much more dense. |
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 iLoveChoo
Female, 18-29, Western US
124 Posts
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Wednesday, July 21, 2010 11:49:01 PM
I like how they named their big telescope Very Large Telescope. I also LOL'd at the limerick news comment |
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 Nidonemo
Male, 18-29, Western US
9216 Posts
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Wednesday, July 21, 2010 11:44:59 PM
Deadmeat I love you XD |
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 Lionhart2
Male, 40-49, Australia
8285 Posts
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Wednesday, July 21, 2010 10:46:10 PM
Woah! 10 MILLION TIMES THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE SUN!!! That must be almost as bright as my a*s! |
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 shappy
Male, 18-29, Canada
758 Posts
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Wednesday, July 21, 2010 10:08:15 PM
i like these space posts |
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