Giant Star WOH G64 Shifts Hue, Hinting at Impending Supernova

Astronomers say the star WOH G64 in the Large Magellanic Cloud has transformed from a red supergiant into a yellow hypergiant (a change tied to observations starting in 2014), is shedding its outer layers, and is heating up—signs that it may be nearing its explosive end. At about 1,500 solar radii, it remains one of the universe’s largest stars, is younger than 5 million years, and new research in Nature Astronomy argues the star could be heading toward a supernova in its relatively short life arc.