Ep. 786: Wolf-Rayet Stars

Hosted by: Fraser Cain ( @frasercain ) and Dr. Pamela L. Gay ( @CosmoQuest ) Streamed live on Mar 9, 2026. You think the Sun is a terrifying ball of fire and fury? Wait until you learn about today’s topic: Wolf-Rayet stars! These are massive, dying stars hurling their outer layers out into space before detonating as supernovae. Big stars live brief lives, and Wolf-Rayet stars are the punctuation mark we see before things go supernova. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Science: Yinuo Han (Caltech), Ryan White (Macquarie University); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI) Learn more here: This show is supported through people like you on Patreon.com/AstronomyCast In this episode, we'd like to thank: Burry Gowen, Eric Lee, Jeanette Wink, Michael Purcell, Andrew Poelstra, David, David Rossetter, Ed, Gerhard Schwarzer, Jason Kwong, Joe McTee, Sergey Manouilov, Siggi Kemmler, Sergio Sancevero

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Ep. 786: Wolf-Rayet Stars is an episode from 365 Days of Astronomy - Weekly Edition.

This episode is 55:50 long.

This episode was published on Mar 16, 2026.

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