The largest known star in the Universe is VY Canis Majoris, also known as VY Cma, which is 5,000 light-years from Earth and is 2.9 billion kilometers in diameter, 1,800 to 2,100 times larger than that of the Sun. Sun. The diameter of the superstar is nine times the distance from Earth to the Sun! But there may be even bigger stars, since today “only” 70 septillion stars are known in the Universe. VY Canis Majoris is located in the constellation of Canis Major in the Milky Way and is named after Greek mythology. The constellation represented Orion’s dog, the giant hunter. Despite the immense size of the Cma, it is not possible to see it from Earth – it is dying and dumping part of its mass in a nebula that obscures our view. The runner-up spot goes to VV Cephei, with a diameter of 1,600 to 1,900 suns. “The values vary because the data are collected from approximations and comparisons, they are always indirect calculations”, explains Augusto Damineli, a professor at the Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics at USP. In terms of weight, the winner is Eta Carinae, 150 times heavier than the Sun (1.9891 x 1030 kg of the Sun, against 298.365 x 1030 kg of Eta Carinae). Size does not always mean brightness – the brightest here on Earth is the Sun – nor luminosity – in which the LBV 1806-20 is a champion. Brightness is related to what we can observe here from Earth; and luminosity is actual brightness, as if the stars were placed side by side and we could compare their intensity. After the Sun, the brightest star for us is Sirius, 8.57 light years away.
what-is-the-biggest-star-in-the-universe
Stellar Walk of Fame Compared to the biggest stars in some categories, the Sun loses the throne of star king
If the sun were… – A tennis ball
The biggest star in the category would be… – A soccer field
SIZE
VY CANIS MAJORIS – 2 100 times larger than the Sun
DIAMETER – 3 billion kilometers
WHERE IT IS – Constellation of Canis Major
If the sun were… – An 85 kg man
The biggest star in the category would be… – Two African Elephants
WEIGHT
ETA CARINAE – 150 times heavier than the Sun
WEIGHT – 298.365 x 1030 kilos
WHERE IT IS – Constellation of Carina
If the sun were… – A lamp
The biggest star in the category would be… – Three times the Fremont Street Light Show in Las Vegas
LIGHT
LBV 1806-20 – 38 million times brighter than the Sun
LIGHTNESS – 38 million units
WHERE IT IS – Constellation of Sagittarius
If the sun were… – One step away from the earth…
The biggest star in the category would be… – … the other closest star to Earth would be 90 km away from us
PROXIMITY TO EARTH
NEXT CENTAURUS – 4.2 light years
SUN – 8 light minutes
WHERE IT IS – Constellation of Centaurus
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– How are stars born, live and die?
– What are the biggest and smallest known stars?