Dying ’monster’ star discovered

The final throws of one of the largest and rarest stars in our galaxy have been discovered by astrophysicists using the European Southern Observatory (ESO). The discovery will enable research into the evolution of stars, and provide invaluable insight into their explosive deaths. The research was carried out by academics from ESO, the Universities of Leeds and Manchester in the UK, and other institutions in Europe. It is to be published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics . Professor René Oudmaijer of the School of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Leeds provided his expertise on the evolution of stars. Despite being catalogued in 1983, this is the first time the star, known as IRAS 17163-3907, has been identified as a yellow hypergiant. Out of a hundred billion stars in the Milky Way, this is only the third such monster star to be discovered.