Artist’s impression of the magnetar in the extraordinary star cluster Westerlund 1
This artist’s impression shows the magnetar in the very rich and young star cluster Westerlund 1. This remarkable cluster contains hundreds of very massive stars, some shining with a brilliance of almost one million suns. European astronomers have for the first time demonstrated that this magnetar — an unusual type of neutron star with an extremely strong magnetic field — was formed from a star with at least 40 times as much mass as the Sun. The result presents great challenges to current theories of how stars evolve, as a star as massive as this was expected to become a black hole, not a magnetar.
Crediti:ESO/L. Calçada
A proposito dell'immagine
Identificazione: | eso1034a |
Tipo: | Illustrazione |
Data di pubblicazione: | Mercoledì 18 Agosto 2010 12:00 |
Notizie relative: | eso1034 |
Dimensione: | 4000 x 2827 px |
A proposito delll'oggetto
Nome: | Westerlund 1 |
Tipo: | Milky Way : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Neutron Star : Magnetar |
Distanza: | 15000 Anni luce |
Categoria: | Illustrations Stars |