Using the VLT Panoramic Telescope (VST), observatory scientists ESO in Chile recorded a huge cluster of stars, which received name “Westerlund 1”. In this cluster, the most the largest star we have ever seen. 
Photos from open sources
This “baby” is approximately 1,500 times wider than our Sun and today is the largest star known to us in The universe. Researchers claim red superstar W26 is a super giant who is nearing the end of his life, a finale which will be the birth of a supernova. It turns out stars with body mass tens of times greater than that of our Sun, live a very short and dramatic life, compared to their less massive brothers and sisters. Some massive stars live just a few million years before they are fully exhausted their nuclear fuel and explode, forming supernovae. Astronomers studying the largest star cluster in the galaxy Milky Way, reported that the Westerlund 1 collection totals several hundred thousand stars at a distance of about 16,000 light years from Earth. And the super giant W26, located in the same congestion, surrounded by a strange, luminous cloud. Supposedly a huge luminous cloud consists of gaseous hydrogen and is the first “ionized nebula” discovered around red supergiants. This luminous education gives scientists a great opportunity to study W26 more thoroughly since compared to other stars the surface of the w26 is wonderful viewed. Scientists suggest that the glow from the gas appeared not as a result of the life of W26, but thanks hot blue stars located in the same cluster with a superstar, or the source of ionizing radiation can be companion stars of the red giant. In any case, ionizing the nebula contributes to the emission of W26. In the photos of the star Westerlund clusters green, which envelops the W26 like a blanket. However due accumulations of gas and dust, the cluster looks somewhat dull, even, despite its huge size. Using the VST, soon time scientists expect to get more detailed pictures for further research of the largest and most mysterious star W26.
Translation by Sergey Vasilenkov
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