Gigantic Star WOH G64 May Soon Explode in a Supernova!
A massive star in space is going through a rapid and strange transformation, and scientists believe it could soon explode in a spectacular supernova. The star, called WOH G64, is one of the largest known red supergiants. It is located about 160,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small neighboring galaxy of the Milky Way.
A Star Undergoing a Mysterious Change
Red supergiants are giant, cool stars that have used up their hydrogen fuel. Instead of burning hydrogen at their core, they burn a surrounding layer of hydrogen gas. WOH G64 was previously estimated to be about 1,500 times the size of the sun, but it is highly unstable and losing mass faster than any other known red supergiant.
Now, researchers using the Very Large Telescope and Magellan Telescopes in Chile have noticed a major transformation. The star has heated up significantly—from about 3,000°C to 4,500°C—changing from a deep red color to a bluer shade. This also means that instead of showing the typical signature of a red supergiant, with elements like titanium oxide, its light now reveals more iron and nickel.
Scientists Surprised by the Rapid Shift
Scientists were shocked by how fast this change happened. “One of our co-authors even asked, ‘Did I observe the wrong star?’” says Alceste Bonanos from the National Observatory of Athens, Greece. But the data confirmed it was indeed WOH G64 undergoing this sudden shift.
This transition likely took place over just a few years—an extremely short period in space terms. Researchers think two possible things might be happening:
- The Star Is Transforming – WOH G64 may have changed from a red supergiant into a yellow hypergiant, something scientists had only theorized but never witnessed before.
- The Star Is Losing Its Outer Layers – The star might be shedding its outer layers due to powerful stellar winds, meaning it could be on the verge of exploding. Alternatively, WOH G64 may actually be part of a binary system, and its changes could be caused by interactions with a companion star.
What’s Next for WOH G64?
Some scientists, like Roberta Humphreys from the University of Minnesota, think the star may have been a yellow hypergiant all along, temporarily looking like a red supergiant before reverting back. Such shifts have been seen in other stars before.
Researchers will continue observing WOH G64 closely over the next year to see what happens next. If it does explode, it could create one of the most spectacular supernova events visible from Earth in modern times!
