WR 102ka

Starbox begin
name = WR 102kaStarbox observe
epoch = J2000.
constell = Sagittarius
ra = RA|17|46|18.12
dec = DEC|-29|01|36.5Starbox image


caption = The "Peony Nebula," as discovered by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. This three color infrared composite shows 3.6-micrometre light in blue, 8-micrometre light in green, and 24-micrometre light in red. The Peony nebula is the reddish cloud of dust in and around the white circle, surronding the Peony nebular star. Starbox astrometry
dist_pc = 8000 Starbox detail
source = [http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=WR+102ka&NbIdent=1&Radius=2&Radius.unit=arcmin&submit=submit+id]
mass = approx. initial mass 175
radius = ~100
gravity =
luminosity = 3.2 million
temperature =
age = Starbox catalog
names = 2MASS J17461811-2901366,
ISOGAL-P J174618.2-290136,
MSX6C G000.0003-00.1743, 'Peony nebula star'

WR 102ka is a Wolf-Rayet star that is one of several candidates for the most luminous known star in our Milky Way Galaxy.The nearer star Eta Carinae, which was the second brightest star in the sky for a few years in the 19th Century, appears to be slightly more luminous than WR 102ka, but it is known to be a binary star system. The luminosities of both Eta Carinae and WR 102ka are rendered somewhat uncertain due to heavy obscuration by galactic dust in the foreground, the effects of which must be corrected for before their apparent brightness can be reduced to estimate their physical radiated power, or "bolometric luminosity". [ [http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ssc2008-13/ssc2008-13a.shtml Spitzer Space Telescope press release, 7/15/2008] ] Both Eta Carinae and WR 102ka are believed likely to explode as supernovas within the next few million years.As is typical of such extremely massive and luminous stars, both have expelled a considerable portion of their initial mass, when originally formed, in dense, massive stellar winds.

Because WR 102ka lies near the Galactic Center, it is the more distant and heavily obscured of the two, and is essentially totally obscured in visible wavelengths. Thus it must be observed in longer wavelength infrared light, which is able to penetrate the dust.The Spitzer Space Telescope observed WR 102ka at wavelengths of 3.6µm, 8µm, and 24µm on April 20, 2005.The observations were carried out by L. Oskinova, W.-R. Hamann, and A. Barniske of Potsdam University, Germany.They are to be published in the European journal "Astronomy and Astrophysics" .WR 102ka was previously observed by the Two Micron All Sky survey (2MASS) in the near-infrared J, H, and K_s bands, at 1.2µm, 1.58µm, and 2.2µm, respectively. [ [http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=WR+102ka&NbIdent=1&Radius=2&Radius.unit=arcmin&submit=submit+id 2MASS J, H, and K_s band data, from SIMBAD] ]

ee also

* LBV 1806-20
* List of most luminous stars
* Pistol star

References

External links

* [http://www.tim-thompson.com/bright-stars.html Tim Thompson's list of luminous stars] Somewhat old, but has references.