Astronomers say a supermassive star could be born soon

(Image credit: Twitter.com/CRKARLA)

last updated 8 January 2015

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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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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