The Pistol Star

By: Natalie Nepa

The Pistol StarBy: Natalie Nepa

The Pistol Star

• The Pistol star is located near the center of the Milky way galaxy.

• It was discovered by the Hubble Space telescope in the early 1900s.

• It is 10 million times more brighter than the Sun.

• The Pistol Star is 4 million years old.

Size of Pistol Star

• The Pistol Star is about 340 times the diameter of the Sun.

• Total, it is about 100 times more massive that the sun.

• The Pistol Star is big enough to fill the diameter of the Earth’s orbit.

Distance from Sun

• The Pistol Star is about 25,000 light years away from the Sun.

• Even though its so far away the Pistol Star would still be visible to the naked eye if not for all the dust blocking it.

Color

• The Pistol Star is a bright white.

(most of the bright white cannot be seen because of the dust)

Temperature

• The temperature of the Pistol Star is between 14-21,000 Kelvin.

• The temperature of the Sun is about 5,800 Kelvin.

• The Pistol Star is much hotter that the Sun.

H-R Diagram

Lum

inos

ityPistol Star

Sun

Constellation• The Pistol Star is in one of the Zodiac

constellations Sagittarius.• It is a picture the centaur (half man half

horse) named Chiron.• Chiron was accidentally shot by Hercules.

The arrow had poison on it. Chiron was suffering. He was an immortal (unable to die) so he could no be relieved with death. Chiron offered himself as a replacement for Prometheus. Prometheus was punished for giving fire to man. His punishment was being chained to a rock. Each day an eagle would come and eat his liver and each night it would grow back. Jupiter(a god) had agreed to release Prometheus if a substitute could be found. Chiron gave up his immortality and went as a substitute for Prometheus. In recognition of Chiron’s “godness”, Jupiter placed him in the stars.

Life Cycle of the Pistol StarThe Pistol Star is currently in the Supergiant phase. The star was born from a Stellar Nebula and it will die into a Neutron Star or a Black Hole.

The bottom track is the cycle that the Pistol Star is going through.

Bibliography• Bell, Cathy. "Sagittarius." Comfychair.org. Web. 23 Nov. 2009.

<http://comfychair.org/~cmbell/myth/sagittarius.html>.• "Pistol Star." Web. 23 Nov. 2009.

<http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/P/Pistol_Star.html>.• The StarChild Team. "StarChild Question of the Month for May 2000."

Starchild.com. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. <http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question21.html>.

• Figer, Don F. "Hubble Identifies What May Be the Most Luminous Star Known." Hubblesite.org. NASA, 8 Oct. 1997. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. <http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/1997/33>.

• Wikipedia. "Pistol Star." En.wilipedia.org. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pistol_Star>.

• "Pistol Star." Jumk.de. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. <http://jumk.de/astronomie/big-stars/pistol-star.shtml>.