All articles tagged with #large magellanic cloud
A new Hubble image of the N44 nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud reveals a 210 by 140 light-year cavity carved by massive stars, which simultaneously destroy their birth gas and trigger the formation of 30,000 new stars in the surrounding shell.
The Hubble Space Telescope imaged LHA 120-N44 (N44), a star-forming nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud, revealing a colossal central cavity dubbed a “superbubble” that spans about 210 by 140 light-years. The glowing, ionized gas is likely carved out by winds from young stars or past supernovae, with ongoing star formation continuing around the shell in this neighboring galaxy about 160,000 light-years away.
A star in the Large Magellanic Cloud briefly brightened for about an hour in 2019 due to gravitational microlensing by an unseen object nicknamed Phoebe. Its mass is estimated at roughly three lunar masses, too light to be a planet or stellar black hole. Analyses favor Phoebe being a dark-matter object in the Milky Way halo, with a primordial black hole as a leading exotic possibility; if confirmed, it would be among the oldest objects in the universe. Alternatives include a free-floating planet in the Milky Way or in the LMC. The event highlights microlensing as a tool to probe dark matter and compact objects.
A decade of VISTA survey data reveals the Small Magellanic Cloud is being stretched and dragged apart by the gravitational pull of the Large Magellanic Cloud, with most SMC stars moving outward at about 38,000 mph (61,000 km/h). The findings argue the SMC isn’t a stable rotating disk but is undergoing tidal disruption due to repeated LMC encounters, potentially tearing the dwarf galaxy in two long before the Milky Way–SMC–LMC collision in ~2.4 billion years. The study, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, highlights the dynamic nature of Milky Way satellites and will be further explored with the One Thousand and One Magellanic Fields survey.
Using Gaia and Sloan Digital Sky Survey data, scientists show the Milky Way was reshaped by a colossal ancient merger (Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus) and is now being perturbed again as the Large Magellanic Cloud pulls on its halo, signaling a new phase of stellar migration and structural reconfiguration for our galaxy.
ESO’s VISTA survey reveals the Large Magellanic Cloud is actively tearing stars from the Small Magellanic Cloud, stretching it along a SE–NW axis and showing that the SMC’s motions are dominated by long‑standing tidal forces from the LMC rather than simple rotation; the two dwarfs are being torn apart and are on a broad path to merge with the Milky Way in the distant future.
Astronomers analyzing a 2019 microlensing flare of a star in the Large Magellanic Cloud say the signal is best explained by a moon-mass primordial black hole—Phoebe—likely in the Milky Way's dark matter halo about 60,000 light-years away. While a rogue exoplanet could cause similar lensing, the PBH explanation is favored and, if confirmed, would illuminate dark matter and early-universe physics and spur high-cadence microlensing surveys with the Roman and Vera Rubin observatories. Some related analyses (e.g., Andromeda PBH candidates) have contested the PBH interpretation, so confirmation will require more sensitive observations.
Astronomers studying WOH G64, among the universe's largest stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud, report dramatic, rapid changes over decades: its surface temperature has climbed more than 1,000°C and its color shifted from red to yellow, with unusual dimming episodes in 2011 and 2025. Such behavior is unprecedented for a star of this size and may mark the final stages of its life, offering a rare, real-time glimpse into how massive stars end their lives and seed the cosmos with heavy elements.
A student-led team at the University of Chicago, using Sloan Digital Sky Survey data, discovered SDSS J0715-7334 — a nearly metal-free ancient star that originated in the Large Magellanic Cloud and later drifted into the Milky Way, offering a rare glimpse into the early universe.
A University of Chicago undergraduate team using Sloan Digital Sky Survey data identified SDSSJ0715-7334 as an ultra-pristine, extremely metal-poor star (0.005% of the Sun’s metals) that likely formed in the Large Magellanic Cloud before migrating into the Milky Way; Gaia data confirms its past orbit and its carbon is undetectable, offering a rare glimpse into the conditions of the early universe.
Astronomers monitoring the red supergiant WOH G64 in the Large Magellanic Cloud report a rapid evolution into a yellow hypergiant, with a temperature rise of about 1,000 C and significant shrinking. This rare color and size change may signal an impending supernova, though researchers offer two possible explanations—binary interaction with a companion or a prior eruptive episode—and the star’s exact fate remains uncertain.
Astronomers say WOH G64, a red supergiant in the Large Magellanic Cloud about 165,000 light-years away and roughly 30 solar masses with a radius over 1,500 suns, is likely transitioning toward a yellow hypergiant after shedding outer layers; this may lead to a spectacular end in a supernova or direct collapse into a black hole, with the fate expected to unfold over hundreds to thousands of years in cosmic time.
Astronomers tracking the star WOH G64 in the Large Magellanic Cloud have observed it change from a red supergiant into a rare yellow hypergiant, a dramatic and unusually slow transformation that could mark the star’s evolution toward a core-collapse supernova or direct black-hole formation. The object, about 28 solar masses and roughly 1,540 times the Sun’s size, may be part of a binary system, with interactions potentially influencing its path to death. While this hints at a possible explosive finale, the final fate remains uncertain and would likely occur on timescales of hundreds to thousands of years rather than within our lifetime; the findings were reported in Nature.
New research finds that WOH G64, one of the universe’s largest stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud, shifted from a red supergiant to a yellow hypergiant around 2014, likely shedding mass as its core contracts and heats. If confirmed, this rapid evolution could herald an imminent supernova, offering a rare chance to observe a star dying in real time.
New SALT spectroscopy of the star WOH G64 in the Large Magellanic Cloud shows it is still a red supergiant, not dying to become a yellow hypergiant as previously thought. Titanium oxide in its atmosphere contradicts earlier interpretations based on dimming and dust, and a possible close companion could be distorting the star’s atmosphere and cocoon, reshaping ideas about its evolution.