GOSSS catalogue clears the way for study of massive stars
Thursday, March 6, 2014 - 09:01
in Astronomy & Space
Only one in two million stars in our galactic environment is of type O, a category that includes stars with anywhere between sixteen and more than one hundred solar masses, and luminosities millions of times greater than that of the sun. Such stars end their lives in supernovae and have a decisive influence on the structure and evolution of galaxies. They are responsible, among others, for the existence of some of the elements we are composed of, but their scarcity makes them difficult to study. The GOSSS catalogue, which has just published data concerning 448 objects, constitutes a window to these stellar giants.