NGC 3603-B facts for kids
NGC 3603-B (also known as HD 97950B) is a very special and powerful type of star called a Wolf–Rayet star. It lives right in the middle of a group of stars called the HD 97950 cluster. This cluster is found inside a huge cloud of gas and dust where new stars are being born, known as the NGC 3603 star-forming region. NGC 3603-B is incredibly far away from us, about 20,000 light years from Earth.
What Makes NGC 3603-B Special?
NGC 3603-B is one of the biggest and brightest stars we know of! It has a special "spectral type" called WN6h. This means that when scientists look at its light, they see strong signs of ionized nitrogen. This is a clue about what the star is made of and how hot it is.
A Giant Among Stars
This star is truly enormous. Imagine our Sun; NGC 3603-B is about 132 times more massive than the Sun! It's also super bright, shining with the power of 2,900,000 Suns combined. Even though it's only about 1.5 million years old (which is very young for a star), it has already lost a lot of its original material. This happens because these giant stars are so active, they constantly blow off parts of their outer layers into space.
