Massive Star WOH G64 Undergoes Unprecedented Transformation
Astronomers observe WOH G64, a massive star in the Large Magellanic Cloud, transitioning from a red supergiant to a yellow hypergiant, providing new insights into stellar evolution.
WOH G64, a massive star located approximately 160,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud, has exhibited a remarkable transformation, transitioning from a red supergiant to a yellow hypergiant. This change, observed between 2013 and 2014, involved an increase in surface temperature by over 1,000 degrees Celsius, leading to a color shift from red to yellow.
The star, about 28 times the mass of the Sun and 1,500 times its diameter, had been classified as an extreme red supergiant. Its rapid evolution into a yellow hypergiant occurred without evidence of an eruption or explosion, a phenomenon not fully explained by current stellar models.
Recent observations suggest that WOH G64 is part of a binary system, with a smaller companion star potentially influencing its evolution. This interaction may have caused the star's outer layers to stretch, leading to the observed changes.
Astronomers continue to monitor WOH G64 to gain further insights into the life cycles of massive stars and the processes leading to supernovae or black hole formation.