Astronomers say a supermassive star could be born soon
A team of Spanish astronomers is keeping an eye on an eclipsing binary star system called MY Camelopardalis (MY Cam), which they predict will merge into one supermassive star.
The two gigantic, hot, blue stars are 13,000 light years away from Earth, and weigh 38 and 32 times the mass of the sun, National Geographic says. It takes less than 1.2 days for the stars — thought to be no more than 2 million years old — to complete orbits of each other. Theoretical models suggest that if a merger does happen, it will be fast and explosive, releasing tons of energy. Since this is something that has never been witnessed before, astronomers are watching closely to see if their prediction is correct.
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