Editor's Summary
10 March 2005
The sky is not the limit for star mass
A compact and massive young star cluster near the centre of our Galaxy holds clues to an intriguing question: what is the most massive star that can form? The Arches cluster is ten times larger than the typical star clusters scattered through the Milky Way, large enough to accommodate stars of 500 solar masses or more — should they exist. Theory suggested that the cluster should contain 18 stars greater than 130 solar masses in size. But Hubble Space Telescope observations show that there are no stars in that size range, and point to 150 solar masses as the maximum size for a star.
News and Views: Astronomy: Stellar mass limited
Is there an upper limit to the mass of a star? The answer to this long-standing question seems to be yes — and it has important consequences for our understanding of the evolution of galaxies.
Pavel Kroupa
doi:10.1038/434148a
Letter: An upper limit to the masses of stars
Donald F. Figer
doi:10.1038/nature03293
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