Mass Of Single Star Measured

Using a combination of ground-based telescopes and the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have directly measured the mass of a single star approximately 1,800 light-years from Earth. This is the first time this has been accomplished, other than for our own nearest star, the Sun. Normally, star mass measurements are made only in binary star systems, but in this astronomy first, scientists employed a gravitational microlensing technique. The small red star's mass is about one tenth that of our Sun.

   More...