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Modern astronomy defines stars as huge plasma balls, consisting of an incandescent mass. Mankind has always been interested in the question of what is the largest star in the universe and what are its dimensions. This rating includes the TOP 10 largest such objects known to mankind. However, it has a certain amount of conventionality – there are probably even larger luminaries in space, but we don’t know about them yet, and some of them are variable stars that can contract and expand.
10 Mu Cephei
One of the largest and most powerful stars in our Galaxy with a luminosity 350 times greater than the sun is rightfully included in the TOP-ten stars of our rating. It is approximately 650-1420 larger than our luminary, and by its size it becomes clear which is the largest huge star. Mu Cephei is capable of accommodating up to 1 billion Suns and 2,7 quadrillion objects such as the Earth on its area. If we imagine our planet as an ordinary golf ball with a diameter of 4,3 cm, the width of this star on this scale would be equal to 5500 meters, which is twice the corresponding dimensions of the Golden Gate Bridge. Mu Cephei is 60 brighter than the Sun, and its bolometric luminosity is 350 times that of the Sun. At the same time, it belongs to the category of dying, since scientists have recorded irreversible processes of carbon synthesis on it.
9. V766 Centaur
In the ranking of the largest stars, yellow supergiants are also represented. The radius of V766 Centauri is 1490 times larger than the Sun. The object has one distinctive feature – in fact, it is a double star along with HR 5171. Its “companion” is much smaller and is so close that it practically touches the more massive star. They are located in the constellation of the same name at a distance of about 12 thousand light years from the Sun.
8. AN Scorpio
Being a red supergiant with a radius of approximately 1411 solar, the object confirms the assumption of what the largest star looks like and what size it is. It is separated from the Earth by 7,4 thousand light years. The star is surrounded by a dust shell, among the sources of its microwave radiation are water and silicon oxide. During the observation period, they were approaching AN Scorpii at a speed of 13 km/s, which confirmed the ongoing process of the giant’s compression.
7. KY Lebedya
A hypergiant, thanks to a radius of 1420 solar, rightfully ranked in the TOP 10 largest stars in the Universe. This is an asterisk of the boundary type, and if it had a lower luminosity, it would no longer belong to supergiants. It is located 5 thousand light years from Earth. KY Cygnus is a very bright object that surpasses our luminary in this indicator by at least 138 thousand times.
6. VX Sagittarius
Another red supergiant that made the list of the largest. It belongs to the group of semi-regular variable stars, according to scientists, it gradually loses mass due to the influence of the stellar wind. Large stars in the Universe, as a rule, are located at a great distance from the Earth and VX Sagittarius was no exception – about 5250 light years share it with our planet. The radius of the giant star ranges from 850-1940 solar, and its diameter probably exceeds that of the asteroid belt of the solar system.
5. Westerland 1-26
Red hypergiant, located in the constellation of the Altar. Discovered by the Swedish astronomer B. Westerlund in the Westerlund 1 star cluster system. Anyone who wonders what the largest star is called needs to know that the luminosity of Westerland 1-26 exceeds the solar one by 380 thousand times, and its surface temperature exceeds 3000 K. In the ESO photo Westerlund 1 appears to be one of the most massive open clusters in the galaxy.
4. RW Cephei
A red hypergiant named after the constellation Cepheus. It is located at a distance of 11,5 thousand light years from our planet. It is not by chance that it is included in the TOP 10 largest stars, since its radius is 1535 times greater than the solar one. The luminosity of this large object is 625 thousand times greater than that of the Sun. At the end of its existence, it can become a hypernova, and its core transforms into a black hole.
3. WON G64
The red supergiant of the constellation Dorado, the second largest star in the universe. Its estimated radius can reach at least 1540 solar. According to astrophysicists, this large object, included in the TOP of the largest stars, has lost up to 1/3 of its mass due to the stellar wind. Using the Very Large Telescope complex in Chile, it was possible to obtain an image that helps to understand that dust and gas around WON G64 forms a torus, reducing its luminosity to 280 thousand solar.
2. VY Canis Major
The hypergiant well-known to astronomers, which is named after the constellation of the same name, reaches 1600 solar radii in size. At the same time, the mass of the object included in the list of the largest stars has only 17-fold superiority over the Sun, which confirms its extremely low density. The volume of the giant is 7 10 more than the Earth’s15 once. Astrophysicists studying the star with the Hubble Space Telescope say it will explode as a hypernova in 100 years. The VY photo of Canis Major shows the star expelling large volumes of gas during the outburst.
1. UY Shield
A real supergiant located in the constellation of the Shield. According to astronomers, its radius is 1708 solar, and the diameter reaches 2,4 billion km. The largest star in the Galaxy has a volume that exceeds the parameters of the Sun by 5 billion times. The star is defined as a variable-type red hypergiant with an estimated pulsation period of 740 days. In the visible part of the spectrum, its luminosity exceeds the solar one by 120 thousand times; in the absence of accumulations of cosmic dust, UY Shield could enter the top five objects that can be viewed from Earth with the naked eye.