Astronomy Jargon 101: Wolf-Rayet Stars – Universe Today
[ad_1]
In this series we are exploring the weird and wonderful world of astronomy jargon! You should be wary of today’s topic: Wolf-Rayet stars!
When giant stars die, they blow up in tremendous supernova explosions. But before doing so, they go through a very strange, but brief, cycle in their lives.
Wolf-Rayet stars were discovered by the French astronomers Charles Wolf and Georges Rayet at the Paris Observatory in 1867. They found three stars that had unusually strong emission lines in the spectra, meaning elements in those stars were getting heated to extremely high temperatures.
The mystery of what Wolf-Rayet stars actually were persisted for over a century. That’s partly because of how rare they are. Even today, astronomers know of only 500 of them in the Milky Way (compared to the hundreds of billions of all the stars in the galaxy).
Today astronomers recognize a Wolf-Rayet star as a star that’s about to die. When big stars – at least 8-10 times the mass of the sun – approach the end of their lives, they switch from hydrogen fusion to helium fusion in their cores. Because of their extreme mass, the helium fusion releases a tremendous amount of energy. That energy causes the outer layers of the star to swell so much that they detach from the star altogether, forming a bubble-like shell of gas around the star.
Eventually that shell will expand further out, creating a nebula. Indeed, many Wolf-Rayet stars are surrounded by such nebulae. But in the meantime, the shell traps a lot of the light coming from the star, which heats it up and causes the shell to glow. This is the source of the strange emission lines seen by Wolf and Rayet.
Wolf-Rayet stars are some of the brightest stars in the universe, with some over a million times more luminous than the sun. But you wouldn’t see that with your eyes. They are so hot that most of their radiation is in the ultraviolet part of the electromagnetic spectrum, which is invisible to us (but you definitely wouldn’t want to get too close).
The Wolf-Rayet phase doesn’t last long, less than a million years. Soon, each one of these stars will begin to form iron their cores, which will eventually lead to a supernova explosion, destroying the star altogether.
So enjoy it while it lasts.
[ad_2]
Original Post
I’m still learning from you, while I’m trying to achieve my goals. I absolutely love reading all that is written on your blog.Keep the posts coming. I loved it!
I have not checked in here for a while because I thought it was getting boring, but the last few posts are great quality so I guess I’ll add you back to my everyday bloglist. You deserve it my friend 🙂
I just wanted to type a small comment so as to express gratitude to you for the fantastic tips you are posting here. My considerable internet search has at the end been honored with good quality details to write about with my family members. I would admit that many of us site visitors actually are unquestionably lucky to be in a useful network with very many awesome professionals with great things. I feel very grateful to have used your entire weblog and look forward to tons of more awesome minutes reading here. Thanks a lot once more for a lot of things.
Great post and right to the point. I don’t know if this is truly the best place to ask but do you guys have any ideea where to hire some professional writers? Thx 🙂
Thanks for sharing excellent informations. Your website is so cool. I am impressed by the details that you have on this site. It reveals how nicely you perceive this subject. Bookmarked this web page, will come back for extra articles. You, my pal, ROCK! I found just the information I already searched all over the place and just couldn’t come across. What a perfect website.
Great ?V I should definitely pronounce, impressed with your web site. I had no trouble navigating through all the tabs as well as related information ended up being truly easy to do to access. I recently found what I hoped for before you know it at all. Reasonably unusual. Is likely to appreciate it for those who add forums or anything, web site theme . a tones way for your customer to communicate. Excellent task..
Thanks for sharing superb informations. Your website is very cool. I’m impressed by the details that you have on this blog. It reveals how nicely you understand this subject. Bookmarked this web page, will come back for more articles. You, my pal, ROCK! I found just the info I already searched all over the place and simply couldn’t come across. What an ideal web site.
I like this web blog its a master peace ! Glad I detected this on google .
Thanks for sharing excellent informations. Your site is so cool. I am impressed by the details that you have on this web site. It reveals how nicely you perceive this subject. Bookmarked this website page, will come back for more articles. You, my pal, ROCK! I found just the info I already searched all over the place and just could not come across. What a great site.
Magnificent web site. Plenty of useful information here. I am sending it to a few buddies ans additionally sharing in delicious. And certainly, thank you to your sweat!
I would like to thnkx for the efforts you’ve put in writing this website. I’m hoping the same high-grade website post from you in the upcoming also. In fact your creative writing skills has encouraged me to get my own blog now. Really the blogging is spreading its wings quickly. Your write up is a good example of it.
Perfectly written subject matter, appreciate it for entropy.
I think this is among the most significant info for me. And i am glad reading your article. But want to remark on some general things, The website style is great, the articles is really excellent : D. Good job, cheers
I’ve recently started a blog, the information you offer on this web site has helped me greatly. Thank you for all of your time & work.
Thanks for another excellent article. Where else could anyone get that kind of information in such a perfect way of writing? I have a presentation next week, and I’m on the look for such info.
Very informative and fantastic anatomical structure of subject matter, now that’s user genial (:.
Hello! I could have sworn I’ve been to this blog before but after browsing through some of the post I realized it’s new to me. Anyways, I’m definitely happy I found it and I’ll be book-marking and checking back frequently!
I’m curious to find out what blog system you are utilizing? I’m having some small security problems with my latest blog and I’d like to find something more risk-free. Do you have any solutions?
I think this internet site has some very excellent info for everyone : D.
Keep up the wonderful piece of work, I read few content on this site and I believe that your site is real interesting and has bands of excellent information.
I loved as much as you will receive carried out right here. The sketch is tasteful, your authored material stylish. nonetheless, you command get got an shakiness over that you wish be delivering the following. unwell unquestionably come further formerly again since exactly the same nearly very often inside case you shield this hike.
Your place is valueble for me. Thanks!…
Hmm it seems like your site ate my first comment (it was super long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I submitted and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I as well am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new to everything. Do you have any recommendations for inexperienced blog writers? I’d certainly appreciate it.
As a Newbie, I am constantly searching online for articles that can be of assistance to me. Thank you
Excellent post. I was checking constantly this blog and I’m impressed! Very helpful information specifically the last part 🙂 I care for such information a lot. I was looking for this certain information for a very long time. Thank you and good luck.
Thanks for sharing superb informations. Your site is so cool. I’m impressed by the details that you have on this blog. It reveals how nicely you understand this subject. Bookmarked this web page, will come back for extra articles. You, my pal, ROCK! I found simply the information I already searched all over the place and simply could not come across. What a great site.
F*ckin’ remarkable issues here. I am very satisfied to see your post. Thanks a lot and i am having a look forward to touch you. Will you please drop me a mail?
Thank you for sharing excellent informations. Your web site is so cool. I am impressed by the details that you?¦ve on this web site. It reveals how nicely you perceive this subject. Bookmarked this web page, will come back for extra articles. You, my friend, ROCK! I found just the info I already searched everywhere and simply could not come across. What a great web site.
Real fantastic info can be found on website.
I’m really enjoying the design and layout of your site. It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more enjoyable for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a developer to create your theme? Great work!
I am impressed with this site, very I am a big fan .