Astronomy:RSGC1-F01
RSGC1-F01 is a red supergiant star in the young open cluster RSGC1 located in the constellation of Scutum. It is one of the largest stars discovered so far and also one of the most luminous cool supergiants, with a radius around 1,530 solar radii (1.06×109 km; 7.1 astronomical unit|au) and around 300,000 solar luminosities, with the former corresponding to a volume 3.58 billion times bigger than the Sun.[1][lower-alpha 1] If placed at the center of the Solar System, the photosphere would engulf the orbit of Jupiter.
The star is heavily obscured by interstellar dust and is invisible in optical wavelengths; it has only been studied through infrared and submillimeter observations.[2] RSGC1 itself was discovered in 2006 using data from infrared surveys.[3]
Observation
RSGC1-F01 is a member of the open cluster RSGC1, which is estimated to be 10–14 million years old with a total mass of about 30,000 solar masses (M☉). All red supergiants in RSGC1 share similar initial masses (around 25 M☉), making the cluster a valuable for studying the evolution and mass loss of massive stars.[4]
ALMA observations in 2024 detected CO rotational line emission from RSGC1-F01 and several other cluster members, allowing direct measurement of gas mass-loss rates and wind velocities.[4] The wind speed for RSGC1-F01 (along with F02, F03, and F04) is 11±3 km/s.[4] These data have contributed to a new mass-loss rate prescription for M-type supergiants with effective temperatures between roughly 3,200 and 3,800 K, showing that CO-derived rates are systematically lower than dust-based estimates.[4]
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See also
- Mu Cephei
- NML Cygni
- Stephenson 2 DFK 1 – mistakenly referred to as "RSGC1-01" in a 2020 paper[1]
- VY Canis Majoris
Notes
- ↑ Calculated, using the Stefan-Boltzmann law and the star's effective temperature and luminosity, with respect to the solar nominal effective temperature of 5,772 K:
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedmassloss2020 - ↑ admin (2025-08-29). "RSGC1-F01 | Star Facts". https://www.star-facts.com/rsgc1-f01/.
- ↑ Figer, Donald F.; MacKenty, John W.; Robberto, Massimo; Smith, Kester; Najarro, Francisco; Kudritzki, Rolf P.; Herrero, Artemio (June 2006). "Discovery of an Extraordinarily Massive Cluster of Red Supergiants". The Astrophysical Journal 643 (2): 1166–1179. doi:10.1086/503275. ISSN 0004-637X. Bibcode: 2006ApJ...643.1166F.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Decin, Leen; Richards, Anita M. S.; Marchant, Pablo; Sana, Hugues (2024). "ALMA detection of CO rotational line emission in red supergiant stars of the massive young star cluster RSGC1". Astronomy & Astrophysics 681: A17. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202244635.
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