'Behemoth star,' previously thought to be dying, is 'rising from the ashes' like a pheonix

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A new study suggests that the red supergiant WOH G64, also known as the "behemoth star," has not transitioned into a yellow hypergiant as previous research suggested. This means it is now unlikely to imminently explode in a colossal supernova.

A blurry close-up image of a star
WOH G64, a.k.a. the "behemoth star," is a red supergiant that was previously predicted to imminently explode in a violent supernova, thanks to recent research that uncovered a cocoon of dust surrounding it. (Image credit: ESO/K. Ohnaka et al.)

One of the universe's largest stars, previously predicted to be in the throes of a violent supernova death, may not imminently explode after all, a new study suggests. The surprise finding also hints that the stellar "behemoth" is slowly being cannibalized by a smaller, hidden partner.

WOH G64, often dubbed the "behemoth star," is a red supergiant located around 163,000 light-years from Earth, in the Large Magellanic Cloud — a dwarf galaxy that closely orbits the Milky Way. The stellar giant is around 1,500 times wider than the sun, making it one of the largest stars ever discovered. It also shines up to 282,000 times brighter than our home star.

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. Given that the star is around 5 million years old — around the maximum lifespan for red supergiants, which burn up their fuel much more quickly than sunlike stars do — it seemed likely that this was happening.

Further proof of an imminent explosion came in November 2024, when researchers took a highly detailed photo of WOH G64 with the Very Large Telescope in Chile — the first image of its kind for an object outside our galaxy — 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.

But in the new study, published Jan. 7 in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, researchers took another look at WOH G64, using the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) — and they found a "smoking gun" that challenges the widely accepted supernova hypothesis.

An Ai-generated image showing a small blue star stealing gas from a red supergiant star like WOH G64

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)

The team's data, collected by SALT's powerful spectroscope between November 2024 and December 2025, revealed titanium oxide — which is normally found only in red supergiants — within WOH G64's atmosphere.

"This implies that WOH G64 is currently a red supergiant and may never have ceased to be," study co-lead author Jacco van Loon, an astrophysicist at Keele University in England, said in a statement. "We are essentially witnessing a 'phoenix' rising from the ashes," he added.

But if WOH G64 isn't turning into a yellow hypergiant, why is it behaving so strangely?

A photo of telescopes with a starry sky in the background and the new photo superimposed on top

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))

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.

"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."

This theory was also raised when the star's dusty cocoon was photographed in 2024, but it failed to gain traction.

All eyes are now on WOH G64 for more clues as to when the stellar behemoth will eventually blow its top.

Article Sources

Van Loon, J. T., & Ohnaka, K. (2026). A phoenix rises from the ashes: WOH G64 is still a red supergiant, for now. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 546(2). https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stag012

Harry Baker
Harry Baker
Senior Staff Writer

Harry is a U.K.-based senior staff writer at Live Science. He studied marine biology at the University of Exeter before training to become a journalist. He covers a wide range of topics including space exploration, planetary science, space weather, climate change, animal behavior and paleontology. His recent work on the solar maximum won "best space submission" at the 2024 Aerospace Media Awards and was shortlisted in the "top scoop" category at the NCTJ Awards for Excellence in 2023. He also writes Live Science's weekly Earth from space series.

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