Friday, May 31, 2024

Wolf-Rayet Star WR 134 in Cygnus | Mayall Telescope

Wolf-Rayet Star WR 134 in Cygnus | Mayall Telescope

This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the 4-meter Mayall telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. WR 134 is the brightest star below the center of the image. It is a Wolf-Rayet star—a very hot, massive star that is blowing off its outer layers. The layers are shed at very high speeds. Part of these layers can be seen as the blue arc in the upper-left part of the image. The arc was created when the outer layer collided with the ambient nebula surrounding the star.
Distance: ~6,000 light-years
The image was generated with observations in Hydrogen alpha (red) and Sulphur [SII] (blue) filters. In this image, North is left, East is down.

The Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope is a four-meter (158 inches) reflector telescope in Arizona named after Nicholas U. Mayall. It saw first light on February 27, 1973, and was the second-largest telescope in the world at that time.


Credit: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage) and H. Schweiker (WIYN and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA)

Release Date: June 30, 2020


#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #WolfRayet #WR134 #Cygnus #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #KittPeakNationalObservatory #KPNO #MayallTelescope #Arizona #NSF #AURA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

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