November 22, 2024: In a monumental achievement for the field of astronomy, scientists have successfully captured the first detailed image of a star outside our galaxy, providing new insights into its life cycle. The star, named WOH G64, is located a staggering 160,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way.

The image was obtained using the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI), with a team of researchers led by Keiichi Ohnaka from Universidad Andres Bello in Chile. The results offer a never-before-seen look at this distant celestial giant, revealing unprecedented details as WOH G64 nears the final stages of its life.

WOH G64, also known as the "behemoth star," is classified as a red supergiant, with a size approximately 2,000 times greater than the Sun. The new image shows the star expelling vast amounts of gas and dust, a clear indication that it is approaching its inevitable transformation into a supernova.

One of the most striking features in the image is the discovery of an egg-shaped cocoon of gas and dust surrounding the star. This unexpected shape has left astronomers intrigued, with speculation that it could be linked to the star’s powerful material ejection process or potentially influenced by an undiscovered companion star.

The research team, which has been observing WOH G64 for nearly 20 years, made an astonishing discovery during their recent observations. They found that the star has dimmed significantly over the past decade, offering a rare glimpse into the real-time evolution of a star nearing the end of its life.

This dimming phenomenon is characteristic of red supergiants shedding their outer layers in the lead-up to a supernova. The unusual shape of the surrounding dust cocoon may further provide clues about the nature of this dramatic process.

However, as WOH G64 continues to fade, capturing additional detailed images of the star will become increasingly difficult, even with advanced instruments like the VLTI. The breakthrough image was made possible by the GRAVITY instrument, a state-of-the-art tool capable of combining light from four separate telescopes to create high-resolution images of distant stars with remarkable clarity.

This discovery marks a historic milestone in our understanding of stars beyond the Milky Way and provides valuable insights into the life cycle of some of the universe’s most massive and short-lived stars.