Una estrella supergigante única
La imagen de la semana de hoy recuerda a las imágenes en 3D que requerían de unas endebles gafas de cartón con un lado rojo y otro cian para poderlas ver correctamente. En realidad, lo que estamos viendo en esta foto es una estrella supergigante roja que expulsa una nube de gas y polvo a medida que se acerca al final de su vida. Estas nebulosas son comunes alrededor de estrellas supergigantes. Sin embargo, esta nube en particular representa un inesperado y considerable misterio para la comunidad astronómica.
Esta es la nube más grande de material expulsado que se ha encontrado alrededor de una estrella supergigante, con una enorme longitud de 1,4 años luz. Un equipo estudió esta estrella, Stephenson 2 DFK 52, con el conjunto ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) mientras estudiaban otras supergigantes cercanas. DFK 52 es bastante similar a Betelgeuse, otra famosa supergigante roja, por lo que esperaban ver una nube similar a su alrededor. Sin embargo, si DFK 52 estuviera tan cerca de nosotros como lo está Betelgeuse, la envoltura que la rodea sería tan ancha en el cielo como un tercio de una Luna llena.
Estas nuevas observaciones de ALMA permiten a la comunidad astronómica medir cuánto material rodea a la estrella y a qué velocidad se mueve. Las partes que se mueven hacia nosotros están resaltadas en azul y las secciones que se alejan, en rojo. Los datos muestran que hace unos 4000 años la estrella pasó por un episodio de desprendimiento de masa extrema y luego disminuyó a su ritmo actual, más similar al de Betelgeuse. Se estima que DFK 52 es 10-15 veces más masivo que el Sol, y ahora ya ha perdido entre el 5 y el 10% de su masa.
Todavía no se sabe cómo la estrella logró expulsar tanto material en tan poco tiempo. ¿Podría ser una extraña interacción con una estrella compañera? ¿Por qué la forma de la nube es tan inusualmente compleja? ¿Hay más supergigantes como esta por ahí? Descifrar por qué DFK 52 ya ha arrojado tanto material ayudará a la comunidad astronómica a comprender cómo llegará a su final: una explosión de supernova en algún momento del próximo millón de años.
Enlace
Crédito:
ALMA(ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/M. Siebert et al.
Sobre la imagen
| Identificador: | potw2531a |
| Idioma: | es |
| Tipo: | Observación |
| Fecha de publicación: | 4 de Agosto de 2025 a las 06:00 |
| Tamaño: | 2704 x 2644 px |
Sobre el objeto
| Nombre: | Stephenson 2 DFK 52 |
| Tipo: | Milky Way : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Red Supergiant Milky Way : Star : Circumstellar Material Milky Way : Nebula |
Fondo de pantalla
Colores y filtros
| Banda | Telescopio |
|---|---|
| Milímetro CO (blueshifted) | Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array Band 6 |
| Milímetro CO (redshifted) | Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array Band 6 |
| Milímetro Continuum | Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array Band 6 |
| Milímetro CO (rest frame) | Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array Band 6 |
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