The Biggest Star In The Universe Is Too Small

R136a1 is the most massive star that astronomers have ever discovered. It s so massive you might think the laws of physics wouldn t allow it. But it turns out that its current mass estimate is actually so low that it threatens our understanding of how the universe got to be where it is, today! Hosted by: Reid Reimers (he/him) ---------- Huge thanks go to the following Patreon supporter for helping us keep SciShow Space free for everyone forever: Jason A Saslow, David Brooks, and AndyGneiss! Support SciShow Space by becoming a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SciShow Or by checking out our awesome space pins and other products over at DFTBA Records: http://dftba.com/scishow ---------- Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet? SciShow on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scishow SciShow Tangents Podcast: http://www.scishowtangents.org Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/scishow Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/scishow Instagram: http://instagram.com/thescishow ---------- Sources: https://authors.library.caltech.edu/52364/1/1992AJ____104_1721C.pdf https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1981/2/25/a-star-is-born-r136a-makes/ https://noirlab.edu/public/news/noirlab2220/#:~:text=The%20new%20Zorro%20observations%2C%20however,the%20most%20massive%20known%20star. https://www.britannica.com/science/angular-resolution https://mavdisk.mnsu.edu/wp5884kt/courses/a125/telescopebasics.pdf https://www.britannica.com/science/Eddington-mass-limit https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/408/2/731/1024495 https://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/ESSAYS/Carr/carr.html#:~:text=The%20term%20%60%60Population%20III,dark%20matter%20in%20galactic%20halos https://www.space.com/strontium-heavy-element-formed-neutron-star-merger.html https://www.space.com/41313-most-massive-star.html Image Sources: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_young_cluster_R136.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Noirlab2220a_Sharpest_Image_Ever_of_R136a1,_Largest_Known_Star.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Star_Cluster_R136_-_Hubble.jpg https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/mauna-kea-observatories-stock-footage/852432368?phrase=telescope%20mauna https://hubblesite.org/contents/media/images/1990/09/6-Image.html https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grand_star-forming_region_R136_in_NGC_2070_(captured_by_the_Hubble_Space_Telescope).jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Comparison_of_the_sizes_of_a_red_dwarf,_the_Sun,_a_B-type_main_sequence_star,_and_R136a1.jpg https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1030c/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EtaCarinae.jpg https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/sun-rings-in-new-month-with-strong-flare https://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/starsgalaxies/fuse_fossil_galaxies.html https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/meteor-shower-shooting-across-the-milky-way-stock-footage/1331444841?phrase=stars https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:R136a1.jpg https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/sn2006gy/more.html https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/the-soul-nebula-in-the-constellation-of-cassiopeia-royalty-free-image/1339147005?phrase=space https://www.eso.org/public/france/images/tarantula/?lang https://phys.org/news/2022-08-astronomers-images-r136-massive-star.html https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/flying-into-deep-space-to-the-tarantula-nebula-also-stock-footage/1329213424?phrase=tarantula%20nebula