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Because of its temperature and luminosity, if Zeta Puppis was at the same distance as [[Sirius]] from our [[Solar System]], it would appear as bright as a quarter-moon.  If Zeta Puppis was our Sun, the [[Earth]] would have to be 450 AU away in order to maintain the same temperature and climate, or about 11 times the mean distance of [[Pluto]] from our Sun.

Because of its temperature and luminosity, if Zeta Puppis was at the same distance as [[Sirius]] from our [[Solar System]], it would appear as bright as a quarter-moon.  If Zeta Puppis was our Sun, the [[Earth]] would have to be 450 AU away in order to maintain the same temperature and climate, or about 11 times the mean distance of [[Pluto]] from our Sun.

Like all class O stars, Zeta Puppis is extremely young, estimated to be only one or two million years old. But because it is so bright and hot, the star has already burned through its [[hydrogen]] fuel.  Thus, the star is already dying and fusing [[helium]] into [[carbon]] and [[oxygen]] in its core.<ref name="illinois">http://www.astro.illinois.edu/~jkaler/sow/naos.html</ref>  Zeta Puppis over time will cool to a red [[supergiant]] before ending its life in a [[hypernova]] explosion.  Such an explosion will be so powerful, that even at the distance of over 1000 light years Zeta Puppis will appear much brighter than even the full [[Moon]].

Because it is so bright and hot, it is fusing [[helium]] into [[carbon]] and [[oxygen]] in its core.<ref name="illinois">http://www.astro.illinois.edu/~jkaler/sow/naos.html</ref>   

 

[[Category:Astronomy]]

[[Category:Astronomy]]

==References==

==References==

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