A
known star has reemerged on the scene as the second brightest in our galaxy and
may in fact be the brightest.
The
"Peony nebula star" shines as brightly as 3.2 million suns, but
lurked in obscurity among interstellar gas and dust in the central region of
the Milky Way — until now.
NASA's
Spitzer
Space Telescope used infrared
vision to scope out the star behind the Peony nebula's reddish cloud of
dust. The European Southern Observatory's New Technology Telescope in Chile
also used infrared vision to see the star's true power behind its dusty veil.
Other
stars are much
brighter as seen from Earth, but that's because of their proximity. Both
distance and dust served to shelter the Peony nebula star from Earth observers
26,000 light years away.
The
newcomer is thought to fall short of the current brightest star, Eta Carina,
which blazes with the light of 4.7 million suns. But astronomers hold out the
possibility that the Peony nebular star may prove even brighter, if they could
just get a better look at it.
They
also suspect that other bright talent may lurk in the star-packed region, which
suggests a new star search is in order.
"There
are probably other stars just as bright if not brighter in our galaxy that
remain hidden from view," said Lidia Oskinova, astronomer at Potsdam University
in Germany.
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