Largest star in Milky Way is DYING and could collapse into a black hole… – The US Sun

A HYPERGIANT star is dying and researchers have been studying the phenomenon closely.

Astronomers at the University of Arizona have developed a model to track the activity ofa red hypergiant star.

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Dubbed VY Canis Majoris, this star may be the largest in our Milky Way galaxy.

In fact, hypergiants are so large that they can measure up to 10,000 times the distance between the Earth andSunin diameter.

As of late, the lifespan of these stars has been a heated topic of debate particularly where the final phase of their lives is concerned.

Typically, stars explode into a supernova at the end of their life, however, there isn't any evidence to prove that hypergiants do.

Some have theorized that instead these stars likely collapse into a black hole.

Still, scientists are unsure about what causes these stars to evolve into black holes.

To find out more, the team from UA has been observing VY Canis Majoris, which is just 3,009 light-years away from Earth.

The team presented some of their findings on June 13 at the 240thmeeting of the American Astronomical Society in Pasadena, California.

"We are particularly interested in what hypergiant stars do at the end of their lives," Ambesh Singh, a University of Arizona doctoral student in chemistrysaid in a statementabout the work.

"People used to think these massive stars simply evolve intosupernovaeexplosions, but we are no longer sure about that."

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, or ALMA, radio telescope in Chile, the team tried to gather as much data on the star as possible especially its arched and knotted shape.

They looked at molecules in ejected matter from the hypergiant star and then created maps of sulfur oxide, sulfur dioxide, silicon oxide, phosphorus oxide, and sodium chloride using data from Nasa's Hubble telescope.

"With these observations, we can now put these on maps on the sky," Dr. Ziurys said in a statement.

"Until now, only small portions of this enormous structure had been studied, but you cant understand the mass loss and how these big stars die unless you look at the entire region.

"Thats why we wanted to create a complete image."

The team is still sorting out much of their data, and they hope to collect more that can help them better understand these massive stars and their deaths.

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Largest star in Milky Way is DYING and could collapse into a black hole... - The US Sun