Astronomers Capture First Close-Up Image of a Star Beyond the Milky Way

The image of the massive red supergiant WOH G64, located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, offers unprecedented insights into the final stages of stellar evolution.

• WOH G64, a red supergiant approximately 2,000 times larger than the Sun, lies 160,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way.
• Using the GRAVITY instrument on the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope Interferometer, researchers created the first detailed image of a star in another galaxy.
• The star is surrounded by an unexpected egg-shaped cocoon of gas and dust, likely ejected as it nears the end of its life, potentially leading to a supernova in thousands of years.
• Scientists observed significant dimming in WOH G64 over the last decade, providing rare real-time insights into the behavior of dying massive stars.
• Future upgrades to the GRAVITY instrument, known as GRAVITY+, aim to enhance observations of distant stars, exoplanets, and galactic phenomena with improved resolution.

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