Dragonfish association

The Dragonfish star association consists of hundreds of thousands of stars with several hundreds of these being the most massive kind. The supermassive blue giants burn so intensely their light has eaten its way through the gas that created it. All that’s left is a hollow egg-shell measures a hundred light years across.

The massive stars will expire quickly in astronomical terms. But for every few hundred superstars, thousands of ordinary stars also exist in this region. When the massive ones go supernova, they’ll release metals and heavy atoms which – in turn – may create solar nebulae around the less dramatic stars. This means they could eventually form solar systems of their own.

There may be newer stars already forming in the eyes of the Dragonfish. Because some areas of the shell appear brighter, researchers surmise the gases contained there are possibly compressing enough to ignite new stars – with enough to go around for many more. However, when there’s no mass or gravity to hold them captive, it would seem they want to fly the nest.

A rebel has already been located in the group, a runaway star escaping from the group at high speed. It is thought the group is no longer tied together by gravity: however, how the association will fly apart is something we still don’t understand well.