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The central region of the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud is seen in an undated image taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope released March 17, 2016. This cluster contains hundreds of young blue stars, among them the most massive star detected in the Universe so far, according to a NASA news release. Astronomers using the unique ultraviolet capabilities of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have identified nine monster stars with masses over 100 times the mass of the Sun in the star cluster R136. R136 is only a few light-years across and is located in the Tarantula Nebula within the Large Magellanic Cloud, about 170,000 light-years away. The young cluster hosts many extremely massive, hot and luminous stars whose energy is mostly radiated in the ultraviolet. This is why the scientists probed the ultraviolet emission of the cluster. As well as finding dozens of stars exceeding 50 solar masses, this new study was able to reveal a total number of nine very massive stars in the cluster, all more than 100 times more massive as the Sun. However, the current record holder R136a1 does keep its place as the most massive star known in the universe, at over 250 solar masses. The detected stars are not only extremely massive, but also extremely bright. Together these nine stars outshine the Sun by a factor of 30 million. (Photo by P. Crowther (University of Sheffield)/Reuters/NASA/ESA)
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