Navigate Select ESC Close

Humongous Bubble Around a Distant Star That Currently Makes No Sense

2025-08-06 Science & Technology
52.6k
4.4k
227
Anton Petrov
Anton Petrov
1.6m subscribers

Bizarre Supergiant Star DFK 52 Reveals Unprecedented Circumstellar Structure in Milky Way

Discover why the seemingly ordinary red supergiant DFK 52 possesses an enormous, complex gaseous envelope that dwarfs even extreme stellar examples, challenging current models of stellar evolution.

Short Summary

  • ALMA observations revealed DFK 52 is shrouded in a massive bubble of gas and dust, stretching 50,000 AU in radius—up to 63 times larger than the envelope of VY Canis Majoris.
  • The structure suggests a massive, dramatic mass-loss event occurred approximately 4,000 years ago, yet the star has not yet undergone a supernova.
  • The specific double-peaked spectrum and lack of central emission point toward cold, detached molecular components, possibly caused by a stellar merger or common envelope event.

This discussion details the unusual ALMA findings regarding DFK 52, a red supergiant in the Stevenson 2 cluster, focusing on its extreme size, chemical composition, and what this implies for predicting massive star death events.

Unlock all features

FREE: Get instant access to 10 AI summaries, chats, or transcripts per day.

Description

Support this channel on Patreon to help me make this a full time job: https://www.patreon.com/whatdamath (Unreleased videos, extra footage, DMs, no ads) Alternatively, PayPal donations can be sent here: http://paypal.me/whatdamath Get a Wonderful Person Tee: https://teespring.com/stores/whatdamath More cool designs are on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3QFIrFX Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about a bizarre super giant star DFK 52 discovered by accident in the Milky Way Links: https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/pdf/forth/aa55975-25.pdf Other videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=cKN4G4x04BM&t=40s https://youtu.be/plOd2cBedOE https://youtu.be/z83lEdDgHRw 0:00 Strange supergiant star with a never before seen structure 0:50 What are super giants? 2:50 What is this new star? 5:10 What the new study and observations revealed 8:00 Dramatic formations history 8:50 Why this is important 9:35 Possible explanations 11:35 Conclusions Enjoy and please subscribe Bitcoin/Ethereum to spare? Donate them here to help this channel grow! bc1qnkl3nk0zt7w0xzrgur9pnkcduj7a3xxllcn7d4 or ETH: 0x60f088B10b03115405d313f964BeA93eF0Bd3DbF Thank you to all Patreon supporters of this channel Special thanks also goes to all the wonderful supporters of the channel through YouTube Memberships Credit: Judy Schmidt CC BY 2.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VY_Canis_Majoris#/media/File:VY_Canis_Majoris_Ejecta_Shell.jpg Licenses used: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ and relevant Creative Commons licenses

Top Comments (10)

@TotesRandom 2025-08-06

Aliens caught our TV signals and decided to put up a shield to block it out.

131 22 replies
@artistny0000 2025-08-06

As an alien we’ve been listening to you and respectfully ask that when we arrive, please don’t take us to any of your leaders. We don’t like them.

42 5 replies
@costrio 2025-08-06

Modern telescopes are amazing. I wonder what the next generations will bring.

32 4 replies
@mikelouis9389 2025-08-06

The more we learn the more we realize we still have so much more to learn.

31 2 replies
@bingustanian 2025-08-06

to all commenters saying its a dyson swarm/sphere: its not a dyson swarm/sphere, if it was then it would not be around a star at the end of its lifetime when there's way more efficient stars for a dyson swarm, unless the alien civilization is stupid then it wouldn't build a dyson swarm around a red giant.

17 19 replies
@robertsherwood2153 2025-08-06

Wow, I'm here early! Hi Anton! I've been wanting to tell you how much I appreciate you bringing truth and love to us all! I will support you as long as I am able❤. God bless you!❤

13 2 replies
@briankleinschmidt3664 2025-08-06

The thing about astronomy. There's plenty of work, but the pay is wanting.

11 3 replies
@LHB57 2025-08-06

Thanks Anton, I really enjoy your videos.

8
@eleanorchapple8772 2025-08-06

Wonderful as always Anton

8
@stargazer5784 2025-08-07

It's worth mentioning that the entire parent cluster is obscured from view in the visible light band by dust and gas.

2

Unlock the Data Inside
Turn Videos into Knowledge

  • Get FREE 10/day: transcripts, summaries, chats
  • Chat with videos, export text & PDF
  • $1 free API credit for RAG, chatbots & research

Free forever plan • All features unlocked

App screenshot