For most people on the planet, the Sun is the most well-known and well-liked star in our solar system. It’s our primary source of energy, and we’re all aware of how massive the star is. However, NASA recently released a photograph of a star 32 times bigger and 200,000 times brighter than our sun.
The image seems like it belongs in The Guardians Of The Galaxy. The star Herschel 36 is located near the center of the Lagoon Nebula, which is essentially a gigantic interstellar cloud in the constellation Sagittarius, around 4,000 light-years away.
The Lagoon Nebula, despite its beauty, is filled of tumultuous gases, roaring stellar winds, and powerful radiation emitted by the huge star, according to NASA’s report.
The image was acquired by the venerable Hubble telescope, which is orbiting the Earth far above the distortion caused by the atmosphere. The telescope, which was a joint effort between NASA and the European Space Agency, has given us a peek into the deepest portions of our cosmos, where mankind would have to travel for decades, if not generations, to access.
Another startling discovery is that the star is young — roughly 1 million years old — and is releasing its natal cocoon of material. It is predicted that it will survive another five million years. Our Sun, on the other hand, is nearly five billion years old and will live for another five billion years.
