What If Sun Gets Replaced By R136a1 – Most Massive and Luminous Star Ever

A team of scientists has discovered the most massive stars found so far. One of them, R136a1, has a birth weight of more than 320 times the mass of the sun and up to twice the currently accepted limit of 150 solar masses. Also, this star is the most luminous and massive star found till date. Today pankaj3625, a fellow hubber, asked a question in the hubpages Q&A and here is the original question, “What Will Happen If Sun Gets Replaced by R136a1 - The New Sun? It is all over the news since a few days that scientists have discovered a new sun by the name of R136a1. What is R136a1? Is it a massive star? Is it more luminous than sun? How many light years away is R136a1 from us? Are their more stars like R136a1? Is our sun going to die? Will it replace sun?” I have answered all these interesting questions asked by Pankaj. Read on…

WHAT IS R136A1? IS IT A MASSIVE STAR? IS IT MORE LUMINOUS THAN SUN?

A recent discovery of R136a1 was made possible by a combination of instruments including VST (Very Large Telescope) at the ESO (European Southern Observatory). According to European Southern Observatory “the existence of such monster stars that are millions of times brighter than Sun and which lose weight with aging, could provide the real answers to the mystery of how massive stars can be”. At the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom, a team of senior astronomers led by Paul Crowther, Professor of Astrophysics, used the file information in Hubble Space Telescope ESA/NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and the Very Large Telescope (VLT) to study in detail 2 young clusters stars namely RMC 136^th or R136 (a super star cluster in Tarantula Nebula, can be called a factory of young stars) and NGC 3603 (an open cluster of stars located in Milky Way). This giant star known as R136a1 has been discovered in the cluster R136 and this is the biggest star ever discovered. The current mass of R136a1 is up to 265 solar masses with a birth weight as mentioned above of up to 320 times the mass of the sun. R136a1 is also not only the biggest stars ever found, but also the brightest star up to ten million X more than the Sun’s brightness.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF SUN GETS REPLACED BY R136A1

According to Raphael Hirschi, KeeleUniversity and his team, “If R136a1 gets replaced by sun in our solar system:

1. Its high mass throughout year will reduce our earth to 3 weeks.
2. Its rays will bathe our planet with an incredibly strong ultraviolet radiation, making completely impossible for any organism to survive on earth.
3. Also it would exceed our sun as much as our sun now exceeds our full moon.

HOW MANY LIGHT YEARS AWAY IS R136A1 FROM US?

R136a1 is 165000 light years away from our solar system. According to European Southern Observatory, NGC 3603 is a prominent star-making factory where stars form extensively in the large clouds of gas and dust in the nebula. This galaxy is located approximately 22,000 light years from Sun, for its part, R136 (RMC 136^th) another cluster of young and massive stars located inside one of the neighboring galaxies to the Milky Way is approximately 165,000 light years away from our solar system. The team of astronomers led by Paul Crowther revealed several stars with surface temperatures above 40,000 degrees. This temperature is estimated as being 7 times hotter than the sun’s temperature. Also this newly discovered star is some 10 times larger and several million times brighter than sun. In addition to this, comparisons with previous models and projects have indicated that several of these stars were born with masses above 150 solar masses. Unlike humans, these stars are born heavier and lose weight with aging. After a little more than a million years from now, the most massive star R136a1 will be of middle age and will have suffered a severe weight loss, shedding a lot of mass in that period of time approximately 1/5^th of its initial mass or more than 50 solar masses. This statement was given by Paul Crowther, Professor of Astrophysics, in University of Sheffield, United Kingdom.

ARE THEIR MORE STARS LIKE R136A1?

Up until now there is no star found to be more massive or luminous than R136a1 but there are millions of stars in nearby galaxies on which scientists are keeping an eye on and it is possible that NASA and other space exploration agencies will discover more stars like R136a1.

IS OUR SUN GOING TO DIE?

Not now. It will take another 5 billion years before our sun will die and it will be when it will convert all its hydrogen into helium.

WILL R136A1 REPLACE SUN?

No, it is not possible for R136A1 to replace our sun as the galaxy in which this star is located is approximately 22,000 light years from our sun.