Astronomers have pinpointed two massive stars, orbiting close to each other in space, that could merge to create a "super" sun, 100 times bigger than our own.The massive "binary" star system, located in a galaxy orbiting the Milky Way, has been captured by Nasa scientists using satellite and ground-based telescopes.
It is one of the most "extreme" systems of its type known and at less than three million years old, is relatively young.
The stars, about 165,000 light years from Earth and labelled LH54-425 by astronomers, contain about 62 and 37 times the mass of our Sun. Scientists believe as they swell in size they will begin to transfer huge amounts of mass to each other. Eventually they are likely to merge, creating a single star to rival one of the largest in the Milky Way: the Eta Carinae binary system. "The merger of two massive stars to make a single super star of over 80 suns could lead to an object like Eta Carinae, which might have looked like LH54-425 one million years ago," said George Sonneborn of Nasa.
"Finding stars this massive so early in their life is very rare. These results expand our understanding of the nature of very massive binaries, which was not well understood. The system will eventually produce a very energetic supernova."
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