A European Space Organisation photo showing increasing magnifications of a cluster of stars named RMC 136a - 165,000 light years from earth - which contains 'monster' stars whose size and brightness exceed what many scientists thought was possible. The biggest star found, R136a1 within the R136a cluster, has a current mass of 265 solar masses, and it is thought its birthweight was as much as 320 times that of the Sun. A researcher at the University of Sheffield discovered the monster stars using the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Very Large Telescope

Credit : ESO / PA