DaGimp
01-23-2004, 01:59 AM
http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/index.asp?id=45896
Brightest Star In The Galaxy
The Pistol star was discovered by the Hubble telescope, ten million times more powerful than the Sun , yet it can't be seen by the naked eye as most of the light it gives off is absorbed by space dust. Astronomers calculate that it emits as much energy in six seconds as the sun does in a year. While this makes it the most powerful star yet identified, it also suggests that it will shortly burn itself out. Pistol is thought to be between one and three million years old, whereas the sun is five billion, and expected to last another five billion. The star has been an unknown quantity since first spotted in the early 1990s by astronomers in South Africa and Japan. Astronomers estimate that it is 25,000 light years away from Earth, towards the centre of the galaxy, and up to 280 million miles across.
Brightest Star In The Galaxy
The Pistol star was discovered by the Hubble telescope, ten million times more powerful than the Sun , yet it can't be seen by the naked eye as most of the light it gives off is absorbed by space dust. Astronomers calculate that it emits as much energy in six seconds as the sun does in a year. While this makes it the most powerful star yet identified, it also suggests that it will shortly burn itself out. Pistol is thought to be between one and three million years old, whereas the sun is five billion, and expected to last another five billion. The star has been an unknown quantity since first spotted in the early 1990s by astronomers in South Africa and Japan. Astronomers estimate that it is 25,000 light years away from Earth, towards the centre of the galaxy, and up to 280 million miles across.