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IMAGE: Dr. Noel Richardson, assistant professor of Physics and Astronomy at Embry-Riddle, mentored now-alumna Laura M. Lee, who helped determine the visual orbit and dynamical mass of the Wolf-Rayet 133 binary. view more
Credit: Embry-Riddle/Jason Kadah
Within the constellation Cygnus, an elderly star and its massive companion are having one last hurrah, flinging off mass at an incredible rate before they explode as supernovae and collapse into a black hole.
Now, researchers including recent Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University graduate Laura M. Lee have mapped the elderly star s orbit around its oversized and equally ancient partner. In a scientific first, they have also determined the dynamical mass of both stars that make up a binary system called Wolf-Rayet 133.