U of T discovery sheds light on massive star cluster

By Lorianna De Giorgio, for The Toronto Star

Largest grouping ever observed in our galaxy

Three astronomers at the University of Toronto have found the most numerous batch of young, supermassive stars yet observed in our galaxy: hundreds of thousands of stars, including several hundreds of the most massive kind --blue stars dozens of times heavier than our Sun. The light these newborn stars emit is so intense it has pushed out and heated the gas that gave them birth, carving out a glowing hollow shell about a hundred light-years across. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/GLIMPSE Team/Mubdi Rahman

Three astronomers at the University of Toronto have found the most numerous batch of young, supermassive stars yet observed in our galaxy: hundreds of thousands of stars, including several hundreds of the most massive kind --blue stars dozens of times heavier than our Sun. The light these newborn stars emit is so intense it has pushed out and heated the gas that gave them birth, carving out a glowing hollow shell about a hundred light-years across. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/GLIMPSE Team/Mubdi Rahman

Three University of Toronto astronomers have discovered the largest group of young stars ever observed in our galaxy, which they hope will bring science one step closer to understanding the evolution of stars.

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