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Press Release 05-055
Duel of the Winds
Powerful winds of two giant stars collide
April 12, 2005
Like two ancient storm gods using nature's weaponry to wage war, this pair of ultra-massive stars has sent their fierce stellar winds smashing together across a region the size of our solar system. Now, astronomers have used the National Science Foundation's Very Long Baseline Array of radio telescopes to track the moving collision zone. One of the combatants is a true behemoth weighing in at some 50 times the mass of our own Sun. But the other, a comparative lightweight having "only" 20 times the mass of Sun, belongs to a category known as Wolf-Rayet stars--meaning it is on the brink of exploding as a supernova.
Astronomers reported their findings in the April 10 edition of the Astrophysical Journal.
For more information, see the news release from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory.
-NSF-
Media Contacts
Dave Finley, NRAO (505) 835-7302 dfinley@nrao.edu
M. Mitchell Waldrop, NSF (703) 292-7752 mwaldrop@nsf.gov
Related Websites
National Radio Astronomy Observatory: http://www.nrao.edu/
Very Long Baseline Array: http://www.vlba.nrao.edu/
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2009, its budget is $9.5 billion, which includes $3.0 billion provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to over 1,900 universities and institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 44,400 competitive requests for funding, and makes over 11,500 new funding awards. NSF also awards over $400 million in professional and service contracts yearly.
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