VY Canis Majoris is Dying, and Astronomers are Watching

There are three-dimensional models of astronomy. Black holes, the size of the universe and everything in between are just some of the possibilities. We can officially add another highly complex model to our list because not every object has received the attention needed to develop a complete model. The University of Arizona has created a model of VY Canis Majoris, a red hypergiant that may be the largest star in the universe. That model will be used to predict how it will die.

The death of red hypergiants has been debated recently. Astronomers thought they exploded into a supernova, which is a type of star explosion. There is a lack of supernovae compared to the numbers that would be expected if red hypergiants themselves exploded that way.

It is thought that they are more likely to collapse into a black hole than previously thought. It is not clear what the characteristics of the stars that would evolve into black holes are.

The team is from the University of Arkansas. VY Canis Majoris was chosen as a stand-in for the type of red hypergiants they were interested in learning more about. The star is so large that it could reach 10,000 to 15,000 times farther out than the Earth is today. It's only 3,008 light-years away from Earth. The southern constellation Canis Major is fascinating to watchers.

It is an excellent observational candidate because it is so large and close to the solar system. The star's surface can be seen with good observational data.

Mass loss is a fundamental process in a star's demise. Gas and dust are blown out of the star's photoosphere. There are features on VY Canis Majoris that are a billion times larger than Earth's.

The material that is blasted into space as part of these eruptions was collected by the researchers. They would be able to detect the speed at which it moves, rather than just the static presence of other ejected materials. They had to align all 48 dishes of ALMA to get the correct information.

They are still working on some of the data that is difficult to process. They had enough time to present their findings to the society in June. They will be able to describe a better model of what a large star looks like when they have more data. When VY Canis Majoris dies, that model of what will happen to a red hypergiant may get a chance to be tested.

You can learn more.

A rare giant star has died.

The Molecules and Outflows in NML Cygni: New Insights from a 1mm survey was written by Singh and his team.

VY Canis Majoris is similar to Betelgeuse on steroids.

There is a hypergiant star near death.