<\/p>\n In recent years, WOH G64 had become significantly dimmer, suggesting that the gigantic star was transitioning into a smaller and hotter yellow hypergiant by shedding its outermost layers of gas. When this happens to a red supergiant, it is usually a sign that the star is about to go supernova<\/a>. Given that the star is around 5 million years old \u2014 around the maximum lifespan for red supergiants, which burn up their fuel much more quickly than sunlike stars do \u2014 it seemed likely that this was happening.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n Further proof of an imminent explosion came in November 2024, when researchers took a highly detailed photo of WOH G64<\/a> with the Very Large Telescope in Chile \u2014 the first image of its kind for an object outside our galaxy \u2014 and detected an “egg-shaped cocoon” of gas and dust around the star. This was proof that the star had shed its outer layers and become a yellow hypergiant, experts assumed.<\/p>\n But in the new study, published Jan. 7 in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society<\/a>, researchers took another look at WOH G64, using the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) \u2014 and they found a “smoking gun” that challenges the widely accepted supernova hypothesis.<\/p>\n \n This AI-generated image shared by the researchers shows WOH G64 losing its gas to a cannibalistic sibling, which may explain its recent weirdness. (Image credit: created by Jacco van Loon using Copilot)<\/p>\n The team’s data, collected by SALT’s powerful spectroscope between November 2024 and December 2025, revealed titanium oxide \u2014 which is normally found only in red supergiants<\/a> \u2014 within WOH G64’s atmosphere.<\/p>\n “This implies that WOH G64 is currently a red supergiant and may never have ceased to be,” study co-lead author Jacco van Loon<\/a>, an astrophysicist at Keele University in England, said in a statement<\/a>. “We are essentially witnessing a ‘phoenix’ rising from the ashes,” he added.<\/p>\n But if WOH G64 isn’t turning into a yellow hypergiant, why is it behaving so strangely?<\/p>\n \n The high-def photo of WOH G64’s egg-like cocoon was captured by the Very Large Telescope, Chile in November 2024. (Image credit: ESO\/K. Ohnaka et al.\/Y. Beletsky (LCO))<\/p>\n The research team suspects the giant star is part of a binary system that includes a smaller star. In this case, its diminutive partner, which likely shines blue, is probably pulling WOH G64’s outer layers into a circumstellar disk.<\/p>\n “The atmosphere of the red supergiant is being stretched out by the approach of the companion star, but it has not been stripped altogether,” van Loon said. “It persists.”<\/p>\n This theory was also raised when the star’s dusty cocoon was photographed in 2024, but it failed to gain traction.<\/p>\n All eyes are now on WOH G64 for more clues as to when the stellar behemoth will eventually blow its top.<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/jDX9DUy7FL4mR4a3TTfFSQ.jpg\")
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