supermassive star

[ soo-per-mas-iv, soo- ]

noun

1. Astronomy. a star with a mass more than fifty times the mass of the sun.

Word History and Origins

Origin of supermassive star¹

super- + massive

Example Sentences

The black hole that they had confirmed was Cygnus X-1, a binary star consisting of a supermassive star co-orbiting a black hole.

From Salon

Regardless, the researchers say, MY Camelopardalis is the first known example of a binary system on its way toward creating a supermassive star.

From Science Magazine

It probably happens when any supermassive star collapses to form a black hole, but, says McEnery, “we’re not going to see most of them; we can only detect them when the jets point right at us.”

From Time

Things will play out quite differently for a supermassive star like Eta Carinae, which lies 7,500 light years from Earth.

From Time