WOH G64 has been in the news because astronomers recently reported that it may have undergone a dramatic change, with evidence suggesting it shifted from an extreme red supergiant toward a hotter yellow hypergiant stage. A February 2026 study in Nature Astronomy describes it as a rare massive symbiotic binary system, with two main explanations on the table: partial ejection of its outer layers during a common-envelope phase, or a return to quiescence after a long eruption.[6]
What changed
The star had already faded over time and shown unusual spectral changes, and the new observations point to a major transition in its apparent nature. Reuters reported that astronomers saw it move from a red hue toward yellow, with a possible blue companion star involved. Some later coverage emphasized that the debate is not fully settled, with alternative analyses suggesting it may still be a red supergiant for now.[3][7][6]
Why it matters
WOH G64 is one of the largest and most extreme stars known in the Large Magellanic Cloud, so any rapid change helps astronomers understand how very massive stars lose mass near the end of their lives. If the yellow-hypergiant interpretation holds, it would be an unusually dramatic evolutionary shift and a valuable real-time look at late-stage stellar behavior. The safest current summary is that it is a highly unusual star showing major variability, and scientists are still tracking whether the hotter phase persists.[7][3][6]
Sources
Observations show that giant star WOH G64 rapidly changed temperature and identity, revealing massive stars evolving in real time.
www.earth.comLong-term observations of WOH G64 -- once considered the most extreme red supergiant star in its galaxy -- reveal that the star has undergone a dramatic transition, possibly shedding part of its outer layers as it entered a hotter and rarer stellar phase.
www.sci.newsOne of the largest known stars in the universe underwent a dramatic transformation in 2014, new research shows, and may be preparing to explode. A study led by Gonzalo Muñoz-Sanchez at the National Observatory of Athens, published in Nature Astronomy today, argues that the enormous star WOH G64 has transitioned from a red supergiant to a rare yellow hypergiant—in what may be evidence of an impending supernova.
phys.orgMassive stars usually evolve gradually over millennia, but here one has been caught in the act. Extreme star WOH G64 shifted from red to yellow in just a year, prompting the question of whether this is due to intrinsic instability or interaction with a hidden companion.
www.nature.comA NASA image captures the Large Magellanic Cloud from orbit as astronomers watch one of its biggest stars behave strangely.
www.ecoticias.comphoenix rises from the ashes: WOH G64 is still a red supergiant, for now Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Oxford Academic Volume 546 Issue 2 February 2026 … However, in a matter of years it has faded, its pulsations have become suppressed and the spectrum has become dominated by emission lines from ionized gas, a far cry from the Mira-like pulsation and late M-type spectrum it used to display. Around the same time, a hot dust cloud was discovered using the Very Large Telescope...
academic.oup.comThe largest stars in the universe live the life of a rock star - they are born brilliant, live fast and die young. If that is the case, the one named WOH G64 might be considered the stellar equivalent of Jimi Hendrix.
www.reuters.com