Surprising Cocoons Found Enveloping Giant Stars

Two model images of the Cepheid star L Carinae as deduced from the interferometric observations: in the near-infrared from VINCI measurements (left) and in the mid-infrared from MIDI (right). In both cases, an envelope is found to surround the star. The contribution from the envelope is about 5 percent in the near-infrared and significantly more in the thermal infrared. As L Carinae is 17,000 times brighter than the Sun, this means that its envelope alone is several hundred times brighter than our Sun. (Image credit: ESO)

Scientists

The

The cocoons

'We

Most stars

Now

"Are they

The

Most stars have a life cycle that starts with some 5 billion years or more

Widespread

Cepheids

L Carinae

The finding

Astronomers

Incredibly sensitive instruments are required to

Now that

"There are

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

Robin Lloyd was a senior editor at Space.com and Live Science from 2007 to 2009. She holds a B.A. degree in sociology from Smith College and a Ph.D. and M.A. degree in sociology from the University of California at Santa Barbara. She is currently a freelance science writer based in New York City and a contributing editor at Scientific American, as well as an adjunct professor at New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program.

More about science astronomy

Astronomers gaze into 'dark nebula' 60 times the size of the solar system (video)

James Webb Space Telescope finds a wild black hole growth spurt in galaxies at 'cosmic noon'

Cyclones on Jupiter and a moon with flowing magma: NASA Juno probe's latest discoveries are awesome

See more latest

Get the Space.com Newsletter