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WR 104 Trivia Questions

How much do you really know about WR 104? Below are 8 true or false statements. Click each one to reveal the answer and explanation.

1.

If WR 104 exploded today, the resulting gamma-ray burst would reach Earth in minutes.

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Easy
✗ FALSE

Any burst would take about 8,000 years to reach Earth, not minutes, because light and gamma rays travel at the same finite speed.

2.

WR 104 is one of the brightest stars in the night sky, visible to the naked eye.

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Easy
✗ FALSE

It's far too dim for naked-eye observation; you need a telescope to see it.

3.

The spiral pattern around WR 104 is called a 'pinwheel nebula' and was first observed in infrared.

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Medium
✓ TRUE

Yes, its spiral nebula is often called a pinwheel nebula and was discovered using infrared observations.

4.

WR 104 is a Wolf-Rayet star located about 2,400 light-years from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius.

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Medium
✗ FALSE

WR 104 is a Wolf-Rayet star in Sagittarius, but its distance is approximately 2,400 parsecs (about 7,800 light-years), not 2,400 light-years.

5.

WR 104 is famous because it might produce a gamma-ray burst aimed directly at Earth.

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Medium
✓ TRUE

Its rotation axis is thought to point near Earth, raising the possibility of a dangerous gamma-ray burst if it goes supernova.

6.

WR 104's companion star is a red giant that outshines WR 104 in visible light.

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Hard
✗ FALSE

Its companion is a hot, massive O-type star, not a red giant; both stars are blue and luminous.

7.

WR 104's spiral dust plume is created by its collision with a nearby black hole.

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Hard
✗ FALSE

The spiral plume comes from colliding stellar winds with a hot, massive companion star, not a black hole.

8.

WR 104 is a binary star system that includes a Wolf-Rayet star.

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Hard
✓ TRUE

WR 104 is a known Wolf-Rayet system, consisting of a massive Wolf-Rayet star and an OB companion, famous for its pinwheel-shaped dust nebula.

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