Zooming Into Wolf-Rayet 22

A Wolf–Rayet star contains over 20 solar masses. Because they are so large, they have a very strong solar wind that causes the star to lose mass rapidly. As a Wolf–Rayet star dies, it is thought to collapse into a black hole. It is speculated that the death of a Wolf–Rayet star leads to a long gamma-ray burst. If a gamma-ray burst occurred in the Milky Way, and if it was close enough to Earth — perhaps some 3,300 light years away, and if the burst was pointed towards Earth, then it could destroy all life on the planet.

Wolf-Rayet 22 (WR22), which is located in the southern Milky Way in the Carina Nebula, is approximately 5,000 light years away and has over 70 solar masses.

This zoom sequence stars with a wide-field view of the spectacular southern Milky Way. It then closes in on the Carina Nebula and finishes with a detailed and colorful view of the region around the unusual hot massive young star WR 22, a member of the rare class of Wolf-Rayet stars.

credit: ESO/ S. Brunier

This story written by Paul Adams

Paul Adams leads an award-winning, diverse contractor team that runs a federal high performance computing facility where he has worked for 17 years. He loves getting his hands on the latest visualization and computer hardware, astronomy, aerospace engineering, working with the poor, and ringing cowbells.