Most Massive Star Just Discovered

Located 20,000 light-years away, a newly weighed star simply known as A1 has been discovered to weigh 114 solar masses. This means that the star weighs 114 times more than the sun. A1 took the record from the previous holder, a star weighing 83 solar masses.

Image Credit: University of Montreal

Scientists were able to measure the A1's mass by using its companion star (a binary system that two orbit a common center of gravity), and used A1's orbit data, the two stars' Doppler shift, and the eclipses made by the stars, all to help figure out the mass.

Scientists have believed that the largest a star can reach is 150 solar masses, and this new discovery has helped to add more reliance to that theory.