Supermassive star
A supermassive star is a hypothetical star whose mass exceeds 60 solar masses. Most astronomers believe that supermassive stars do not exist, instead postulating the existence of supermassive black holes.[citation needed]
The largest stable star is determined by the Eddington limit. If a star exceeds this mass, the excess luminosity will exceed the gravitational force at the outer surface, and the star will shed gas until it reaches the limiting mass. The maximum such mass is thought to be about 100 solar masses.[1]
It has been hypothesized that the first stars in the early universe, sometimes called population III stars, may have achieved supermassive dimensions. The lack of heavy elements in the early universe allowed significantly larger stars to form.[2]
References
- ^ "What is a star". National Maritime Museum. Retrieved 2006-06-08.
- ^ V. Bromm, P.S. Coppi, R.B. Larson (2002). "The Formation of the First Stars. I. The Primordial Star-forming Cloud". The Astrophysical Journal. 564 (1): 23–51. doi:10.1086/323947.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
 | This star-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |