Researchers are trying to figure out what the star will become after death.
Astronomers from the University of Arizona have created a model of the evolution of VY the Great A dog, a red supergiant, which is probably the biggest star of the Milky Way. And they intend to use this model to find out how it will die, according to Science Alert.
How the red giants die is a matter of controversy. Until recently, scientists believed that they simply explode supernovae. But new data shows that we know far fewer supernovae than there should be if all the red giants ended their lives that way.
Read also: Astronomers have discovered a crater from a mysterious rocket that crashed into the moon
There is currently a theory that they are more likely to turn into a black hole, which is much harder to observe directly. But what characteristics should have stars that become black holes is not entirely clear. Therefore, we need a model that can clarify this.
Scientists have decided that the VY Big Dog is a great object that can be used to simulate the death of red giants. The star itself is very large – ranging in size from 10 to 15 astronomical units (average distance of the Earth to the Sun – ed.). The luminary is only 3009 light-years away, in the constellation of the Great Dog, which makes it an interesting object for observation.
One of the fundamental processes of the star's death is the loss of mass. This usually happens when gas and dust are gradually blown out of the star's photosphere. However, VY Big Dog has massive details, similar to the coronal arcs of the Sun, but a billion times more massive.
Using the ALMA telescope, scientists have collected radio signals from material ejected into space during such eruptions. This material, including sulfur dioxide, silicon dioxide, and sodium chloride, would allow them to determine the speed at which it moves, not just the static presence of other emissions such as dust.
Processing all the data obtained is a difficult task. and is not yet fully completed. Instead, scientists have already presented the first data at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society.
In the future, researchers intend to improve their model of how the largest star in the galaxy dies. Then, when VY Big Dog officially dies, the model developed by researchers will be tested.
