00:00welcome to a fascinating journey through the cosmos scientists are still afraid of this star
00:08wolf rayed it could destroy earth at any moment wolf rayed stars a rare and extraordinary class
00:16of celestial bodies that are crucial to our understanding of stellar evolution wolf rayed
00:22stars or wr stars are unique for their unusual spectrum they show broad emission lines of ionized
00:29helium and highly ionized nitrogen or carbon these spectral features suggest very high surface
00:36temperatures ranging from 20 000 k to about 210 000 k that's hotter than most other stars in our
00:43universe typically these stars have lost their outer hydrogen layers and are burning helium or even
00:50heavier elements in their cores young examples of wr stars known as wnh stars still fuse hydrogen at
00:59their cores as these massive stars evolve they expose helium and nitrogen at their surfaces due
01:06to radiation driven mass loss despite their incredible luminosity way more than a million
01:13times that of our sun they aren't prominently bright because most of their light is emitted in the
01:18ultraviolet spectrum historically wolf rayed stars were first identified in 1867 leading to decades of
01:27investigation into what made them so unique the initial confusion about their nature was eventually
01:33dispelled in the mid 20th century as researchers began linking their spectra to different types of
01:39star evolution often we see them associated with planetary nebulae as some serve as central stars in these
01:47formations moreover features in their spectra indicate they are surrounded by fast-moving gas with speeds
01:54reaching up to 2400 kilometers per second expelled into space the classification of wolf rayett stars
02:02has developed significantly over the years they are mainly categorized into three classes by their
02:09spectral emission lines wn stars which are dominated by nitrogen wc stars which are carbon rich and wo stars
02:19which are evolving from carbon burning stages as we explore different wr stars we encounter the extreme
02:27case of the star r13601 dubbed the most massive star gnome still within its prime hydrogen burning stage
02:35in many cases the presence of wr stars hints at ongoing massive star formation this connectivity to stellar
02:43formation means they can act as indicators of young stellar populations in galaxies particularly in starburst regions
02:52various wolf rayed galaxies show wn signatures emphasizing their role in understanding galaxy formation and evolution
03:01these galaxies exhibit characteristic emission line features due to numerous wr stars reflective of recent bursts of star formation
03:10recent studies have revealed that binary interactions amongst stars can lead to additional mechanisms driving the evolution of wolf rayett stars
03:19these interactions help explain some of the peculiar spectral types we observe
03:25looking to the future astronomers are excited to discover more about wr stars especially their role as progenitors of certain types of supernovae
03:35studies suggest that wr stars might explode dramatically when they reach a particular evolutionary stage often identified in type ib or ic supernovae
03:46so will you join us in further exploring the cosmic wonders dive deeper into the magnificent world of wolf rayed stars and continue your celestial adventure today
03:58your journey through the stars awaits this is an image of a distant galaxy about 45 million light years from earth
04:07the hubble telescope took this image if you look closely you'll see that it's different from our milky way and andromeda galaxies
04:16it appears to be soaring into space with stars in its wake at first glance it might look ordinary but it's a very special galaxy
04:29the stars that make it up are very bright and powerful and they are helping scientists learn new things about the growth and transformation of galaxies
04:37you've never heard of this these stars are much much bigger than our sun
04:46they're so bright that thousands of suns combined wouldn't be that bright
04:50but these enormous stars are also outraged
04:55if anything gets too close like a human or even an alien spacecraft the star will be destroyed
05:03not even the most advanced aliens will be safe
05:07these stars aren't afraid of anything they're so powerful scientists are even a little fearful of them
05:14do you know what these stars are called if one of them decides to use all its power at once it can
05:23become brighter than the entire galaxy and change everything around it a long time ago in the year 1867
05:31two astronomers named charles wolf and george rayed were looking at the stars through a telescope in paris
05:39when they looked at a group of stars called the cygnus constellation
05:43they saw three stars that looked a little different they studied the light from these stars to learn
05:49more about them by observing a star's light scientists can discover amazing things
05:57they can determine its brightness and mass as well as the materials called elements it contains
06:05when a telescope collects a star's light it uses a special instrument called a spectrometer to
06:10separate the light into multiple colors like a rainbow within this rainbow there are dark lines
06:18that look like the star's fingerprint by observing these dark lines scientists can determine what
06:25elements the star contains and how much of each for example our sun is made of two things about 70
06:3320 percent hydrogen and 28 percent helium we learn a lot about stars by looking at their light about 150
06:43years ago two scientists named charles wolf and george rayed saw three special stars from a place called the
06:50paris observatory they noticed that these stars looked very different from our sun the sun's light has dark lines
06:59in it kind of like stripes but these stars didn't have dark lines at all instead they had bright red lines
07:09on a dark background these bright lines are called emission lines some dark lines called absorption lines
07:18are special marks seen when we look at stars two scientists named charles wolf and george wright found
07:26that some stars have lots of bright lines instead these bright lines only show up in very hot and bright
07:34stars that are super hot hot enough to be hundreds of thousands of degrees celsius because of these stars
07:42they are called wolf rayed stars named after the scientists now let's learn more about how big and hot
07:50these stars are there's one such star about 8 000 light years away from us in a part of the sky called the
07:58cassiopeia constellation there's a bright star in the sky so bright that it may outshine hundreds of
08:05thousands of suns combined scientists call it dubod ar which is another name for a special type of star
08:14called the wolf rayed star although dubod ar is slightly smaller than our sun about 10 percent
08:22smaller it's much heavier about 16 times heavier than the sun its surface is extremely hot about 26 times
08:31hotter than the sun's surface the sun's surface is around 5 500 degrees celsius but dubod ar surface reaches
08:41140 000 degrees celsius it's also incredibly bright about 282 000 times brighter than our sun
08:52there's a super dangerous type of energy called radiation that emanates from the front of a star
08:59this energy is so intense that it can pass through any object in its path
09:05if you're traveling in a normal spacecraft there's no way to escape this blast
09:11you need a special shield to protect yourself from the powerful x-rays and gamma rays
09:17this star is in fact the smallest of a group called wolf ray it stars
09:24although it's tiny it's much heavier than our sun think about it if this tiny star can cause trouble
09:32for the sun the larger wolf ray it star must be incredibly strong and powerful
09:37let's imagine we're traveling far far away about 163 000 light years from earth to a small galaxy
09:46called the large magellanic cloud which is close to our galaxy the milky way
09:53in that galaxy there's a huge cloud of gas and dust called a nebula and it's the biggest one in the
09:59universe so big it stretches across 1800 light years right in the middle of this nebula there's a special star called r13601
10:12it's the brightest and heaviest star we know of so big that it's 200 times wider than our sun and much more spread out
10:19this star this star is like a giant glowing beast in the sky
10:25let's imagine we travel very far away about 163 000 light years from earth
10:32to a small galaxy called the large magellanic cloud close to our own galaxy the milky way
10:40in that galaxy there is a huge cloud of gas and dust called a nebula the largest in the universe
10:46so large that it stretches across 1800 light years right in the middle of this nebula lies a special star
10:55called r13601 it is the brightest and heaviest star we know of so large that it is 200 times wider than
11:04our sun and much more extended this star is like a gigantic shining beast in the sky it's not going to
11:14happen if star 36 approaches our neighbor proxima centauri four light years away it will appear as
11:22big as our moon in the sky it will look like there are two moons up there but because of its great
11:30brightness we will no longer be able to see many of the other stars in the night sky the brighter a
11:37special type of star called the wolf ray it star is the faster it will dim and stop shining
11:45this type of star is extremely hot on its exterior and emits strong beams of energy
11:52these beams cause powerful winds that expel particles such as tiny protons and electrons
11:57there is a star called star 36 the wind which is like a strong breeze coming off the star
12:07blows very fast at 2 600 kilometers per second because of this fast wind the star loses a lot of
12:16its weight every year about 3 billion kilograms to imagine that it would take the sun millions of
12:24years to lose the same amount of weight since the star keeps losing so much mass so quickly it won't
12:32last forever and will eventually disappear when the star finally explodes in a huge explosion called a
12:39supernova it releases a lot of energy like a giant burst of light and heat if there are planets or other
12:47space objects near it within 100 light years the explosion could strip away their atmospheres or even
12:53destroy them completely imagine there could be planets or aliens somewhere in space but if they
13:01were near a special kind of star called a wolf ray it star they probably wouldn't survive that's because
13:09this star emits super powerful energy called gamma rays which can destroy planets and make it impossible
13:15for any living thing to survive currently this star isn't even in the same galaxy as is so we shouldn't
13:23worry but one day when this star finally explodes in a huge explosion called a supernova people in the
13:31future will be able to watch it shine for thousands of years and if you think there aren't any of these
13:38huge wolf ray it stars in our galaxy you're wrong they are imagine that this star emits super powerful
13:47energy energy called gamma rays which can destroy planets and make it impossible for any living thing
13:52to survive currently this star isn't even in the same galaxy as is so we shouldn't worry but one day
14:02when this star finally explodes in a huge explosion called a supernova people in the future will be able
14:08to watch it shine for thousands of years and if you think there aren't any of these huge wolf ray it
14:15stars in our galaxy you're wrong they are if it moves closer to earth then 8 000 years after the explosion
14:24our planet will face deadly radiation this could wipe out all life on earth but scientists say this star is
14:33so far away that the radiation won't have much effect on our planet so we might survive it what happens in
14:43the future though only time will tell so friends i hope you learned a lot of new stuff from today's video
14:53if any of the info was totally new to you be sure to let me know in the comments
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