Der junge Sternhaufen RMC 136a
Mithilfe von Beobachtungen mit mehreren Instrumenten am Very Large Telescope der ESO haben Astronomen die bislang massereichsten Sterne entdeckt. Einige dieser Sterne hatten bei ihrer Entstehung mehr als die 300-fache Masse der Sonne. Das entspricht dem Doppelten des bisher angenommenen Maximalwerts von 150 Sonnenmassen, oberhalb dessen Sterne eigentlich instabil sein sollten. Der auffälligste dieser Sterne wurde im Sternhaufen RMC 136a (auch als R136 bezeichnet) entdeckt. Der Stern R136a1 hat zur Zeit etwa die 265-fache Masse der Sonne. Mit einem Alter von etwas über einer Million Jahren hat er für einen Stern seiner Masse ein mittleres Alter. Es ist als wäre er auf einer strengen Diät, bei der er schon ein Fünftel seiner ursprünglichen Masse eingebüßt hat; in seinem Fall sind das mehr als 50 Sonnenmassen. R136a1 ist nicht nur der massereichste Stern, den die Astronomen kennen, sondern auch derjenige mit der größten Leuchtkraft. Sie beträgt fast das zehnmillionenfache der Leuchtkraft der Sonne.
R136 ist eine Ansammlung junger, massereicher heller Sterne im Inneren des Tarantelnebels, der sich in 165.000 Lichtjahren Entfernung in der Großen Magellanschen Wolke befindet, einer Begleitgalaxie unserer Milchstraße. Die Sterndichte in R136 ist so hoch, dass auf der Strecke zwischen der Sonne und unserem nächsten Nachbarstern zehntausende weitere Sterne liegen würden. Hunderte dieser Sterne sind so hell, dass es niemals dunkel werden würde, wenn wir uns auf einem (hypothetischen) Planeten im Zentrum des Haufens befinden würden.
Diese Montage zeigt eine Aufnahme des Tarantelnebels im sichtbaren Licht vom Wide Field Imager am MPG/ESO 2,2-Meter-Teleskop (links) zusammen mit einer Detailansicht im sichtbaren Licht vom Very Large Telescope (Mitte). Hinzu kommt eine neue Aufnahme des R136-Haufens im nahen Infrarot vom MAD-Instrument mit adaptiver Optik am Very Large Telescope (rechts). Dabei befindet sich der Sternhaufen unten rechts. Das MAD-Bild zeigt einzigartige Details zum Sterneninhalt des Haufens.
Bildnachweis:ESO/P. Crowther/C.J. Evans
Über das Bild
| ID: | eso1030a |
| Sprache: | de-ch |
| Typ: | Beobachtung |
| Veröffentlichungsdatum: | 21. Juli 2010 12:00 |
| Dazugehörige Veröffentlichungen: | eso1030 |
| Größe: | 6497 x 2200 px |
Über das Objekt
| Name: | RMC 136a |
| Typ: | Local Universe : Star : Grouping : Cluster |
| Entfernung: | 170000 Lichtjahre |
Bildformate
Farben & Filter
| Spektralbereich | Teleskop |
|---|---|
| Optisch B | MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope WFI |
| Infrarot Near-IR | Very Large Telescope ESO Multi-conjugate Adaptive optics Demonstrator (MAD) |
| Optisch Oiii | MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope WFI |
| Optisch V | MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope WFI |
| Optisch H-alpha | MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope WFI |
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