Star - VY Canis Major is the largest known star in the Milky Way. Mention of it can be found in a star catalog published back in 1801. There she is listed as a seventh magnitude star.
The red hypergiant star VY Canis Majoris is located 4,900 light-years from Earth. It is 2100 times larger than the Sun. In other words, if we imagine that VY suddenly appeared in the place of our star, then it would absorb all the planets up to Saturn. In order to fly around such a “ball” at a speed of 900 km/h it will take 1100 years. However, when moving at the speed of light, it will take much less time - only 8 minutes.
Since the mid-19th century, VY Canis Majoris has been known to have a crimson hue. It was assumed that it is a multiple. But later it turned out that this is a single star and it does not have a companion. And the crimson spectrum of the glow is provided by the surrounding nebula.
3 or more stars that are seen as closely spaced are called a multiple star. If in fact they are simply close to the line of sight, then they are an optically multiple star; if they are united by gravity, they are a physically multiple star.
With such a gigantic size, the mass of the star is only 40 times the mass of the Sun. The density of the gases inside it is very low - this explains its impressive size and relatively low weight. Gravity is unable to prevent the loss of stellar fuel. It is believed that by now the hypergiant has already lost more than half of its original mass.
Back in the mid-19th century, scientists noted that the giant star was losing its brightness. However, this parameter is still very impressive - the brightness of VY is 500 times greater than the Sun.
Scientists believe that when VY's fuel runs out, it will explode as a supernova. The explosion will destroy any life for several light years around. But the Earth will not suffer - the distance is too great.
And the smallest
In 2006, it appeared in the press that a group of Canadian scientists led by Dr. Harvey Reicher had discovered the smallest currently known star in our galaxy. She is in star cluster NGC 6397 is the second farthest from the Sun. The research was carried out using the Hubble telescope.
The mass of the discovered star is close to the theoretically calculated lower limit and amounts to 8.3% of the mass of the Sun. The existence of smaller stellar objects is considered impossible. Their small size simply does not allow the nuclear fusion reaction to begin. The brightness of such objects is similar to the glow of a candle lit on the Moon.
Today you will learn about the most unusual stars. It is estimated that there are about 100 billion galaxies in the Universe and about 100 billion stars in each galaxy. With so many stars, there are bound to be some strange ones among them. Many of the sparkling, burning balls of gas are quite similar to each other, but some stand out for their strange size, weight and behavior. Using modern telescopes, scientists continue to study these stars to better understand them and the Universe, but mysteries still remain. Curious to know about the strangest stars? Here are the 25 most unusual stars in the Universe.
25. UY Scuti
Considered a supergiant star, UY Scuti is so large that it could engulf our star, half of our neighboring planets, and virtually our entire solar system. Its radius is approximately 1700 times the radius of the Sun.
24. Star of Methuselah
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The Star of Methuselah, also named HD 140283, truly lives up to its name. Some believe it is 16 billion years old, which is problematic since the Big Bang only happened 13.8 billion years ago. Astronomers have tried to use more advanced age methods to better date the star, but still believe it is at least 14 billion years old.
23. Torna-Zhitkov object
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The existence of this object was originally proposed theoretically by Kip Thorne and Anna Zytkow; it consists of two stars, a neutron and a red supergiant, combined into one star. A potential candidate for this object has been named HV 2112.
22.R136a1 
Photo: flickr
Although UY Scuti is the most big star, known to man, R136a1 is definitely one of the heaviest in the Universe. Its mass is 265 times greater than the mass of our Sun. What makes it strange is that we don't know exactly how it was formed. The main theory is that it was formed by the merger of several stars.
21.PSR B1257+12
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Most of the exoplanets in the solar system PSR B1257+12 are dead and bathed in deadly radiation from their old star. Amazing fact about their star is a zombie star or pulsar that has died but the core still remains. The radiation emanating from it makes this solar system a no man's land.
20.SAO 206462
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Comprised of two spiral arms spanning 14 million miles across, SAO 206462 is certainly a strange and unique star in the universe. While some galaxies are known to have arms, stars typically do not. Scientists believe that this star is in the process of creating planets.
19. 2MASS J0523-1403
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2MASS J0523-1403, perhaps the smallest famous star in the Universe, and it is only 40 light years away. Because it is small in size and mass, scientists believe it may be 12 trillion years old.
18. Heavy metal subdwarfs
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Recently, astronomers discovered a pair of stars with large amounts of lead in their atmosphere, which creates thick and heavy clouds around the star. They're called HE 2359-2844 and HE 1256-2738, and they're located 800 and 1000 light-years away respectively, but you could just call them heavy metal subdwarfs. Scientists are still not sure how they form.
17. RX J1856.5-3754
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From the moment they are born, neutron stars begin to continuously lose energy and cool down. It is therefore unusual that a 100,000-year-old neutron star such as RX J1856.5-3754 could be so hot and show no signs of activity. Scientists believe that interstellar material is held by the star's strong gravitational field, resulting in enough energy to heat the star.
16. KIC 8462852
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The star system KIC 8462852 has attracted close attention and interest from SETI and astronomers for its unusual behavior in Lately. Sometimes it dims by 20 percent, which could mean something is orbiting around it. Of course, this led some to the conclusion that these were aliens, but another explanation is the debris of a comet that entered the same orbit with the star.
15. Vega
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Vega is the fifth most bright Star in the night sky, but that’s not what makes it strange at all. Its high rotation speed of 960,600 km per hour gives it an egg shape, rather than a spherical shape like our Sun. There are also temperature variations, with colder temperatures at the equator.
14. SGR 0418+5729
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A magnet located 6,500 light-years from Earth, SGR 0418+5729 has the strongest magnetic field in the Universe. The strange thing about it is that it does not correspond to the image of traditional magnetars with a surface magnetic field, like ordinary neutron stars.
13. Kepler-47
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In the constellation Cygnus, 4,900 light-years from Earth, astronomers have discovered for the first time a pair of planets orbiting two stars. Known as the Kelper-47 system, the orbiting stars eclipse each other every 7.5 days. One star is roughly the size of our Sun, but only 84 percent as bright. The discovery proves that there may be more than one planet in the stressed orbit of a binary star system.
12. La Superba
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La Superba is another massive star located 800 light years away. It is about 3 times heavier than our Sun and the size of four astronomical units. It is so bright that it can be observed from Earth with the naked eye.
11. MY Camelopardalis
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MY Camelopardalis was thought to be a lone bright star, but the two stars were later discovered to be so close that they practically touch each other. Two stars slowly join together to form one star. Nobody knows when they will completely merge.
10.PSR J1719-1438b
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Technically, PSR J1719-1438b is not a star, but it once was. While it was still a star, its outer layers were sucked out by another star, turning it into a small planet. What's even more surprising about this former star, what is now a giant diamond planet, five times the size of Earth.
9. OGLE TR-122b
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The average star usually makes the other planets look like pebbles, but OGLE TR-122b is about the same size as Jupiter. That's right, this is the smallest star in the Universe. Scientists believe it originated as a stellar dwarf several billion years ago, marking the first time a star comparable in size to a planet has been discovered.
8. L1448 IRS3B
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Astronomers discovered the three-star system L1448 IRS3B as it began to form. Using the ALMA telescope in Chile, they observed two young stars orbiting a much older star. They believe that these two young stars were the result of nuclear reaction with gas rotating around the star.
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Mira, also known as Omicron Ceti, is 420 light-years away and is quite strange due to its constantly fluctuating brightness. Scientists consider it a dying star located on recent years own life. Even more amazingly, it moves through space at a speed of 130 km per second and has a tail that stretches several light years.
6. Fomalhaut-C
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If you thought the two-star system was cool, then you might want to see the Fomalhaut-C. This is a three-star system just 25 light-years from Earth. While triple star systems are not entirely unique, this one is because the location of the stars far away rather than close to each other is an anomaly. The star Fomalhaut-C is particularly far away from A and B.
5. Swift J1644+57
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The black hole's appetite is indiscriminate. In the case of Swift J1644+57, a dormant black hole woke up and devoured the star. Scientists made this discovery in 2011 using X-ray and radio waves. It took 3.9 billion light years for the light to reach Earth.
4.PSR J1841-0500
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Known for their regular and constantly pulsating glow, they are rapidly rotating stars that rarely turn off. But PSR J1841-0500 surprised scientific topics that he did this for only 580 days. Scientists believe that studying this star will help them understand how pulsars work.
3.PSR J1748-2446
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The strangest thing about PSR J1748-2446 is that it is the fastest spinning object in the Universe. It has a density 50 trillion times that of lead. To top it all off, its magnetic field is a trillion times stronger than that of our Sun. In short, this is an insanely overactive star.
2. SDSS J090745.0+024507
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SDSS J090745.0+024507 is a ridiculously long name for a runaway star. With the help of a supermassive black hole, the star has been knocked out of its orbit and is moving fast enough to escape the Milky Way. Let's hope that none of these stars rush towards us.
1. Magnetar SGR 1806-20
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Magnetar SGR 1806-20 is a terrifying force that exists in our Universe. Astronomers detected a bright flash 50,000 light-years away that was so powerful it bounced off the Moon and illuminated Earth's atmosphere for ten seconds. Solar flare raised questions among scientists about whether something like this could lead to the extinction of all life on Earth.
Astronomers never cease to delight us with new discoveries, finding more and more stars in the Universe. Some of them can be seen at night with the naked eye, simply by looking into the night sky. Seeing others requires the most powerful telescopes. What is the biggest star in the universe? Where is it located and how is it different from its neighbors? We invite you to familiarize yourself with the rating of the largest stars that have already been discovered by astronomers in the universe.
AH Scorpio
This is a real red giant, which is located in the region of the constellation Scorpio at a distance of 12 thousand light years relative to our planet. Its radius exceeds the radius of the Sun by 1.5 thousand times.
KY Swan
To reach this star, which is located in the constellation Cygnus, it will take as much as 5 thousand light years to fly from Earth. Comparing the radius of the planet with the Sun, we can say that its radius is 1420 solar radii. But the planet’s mass is not so large - it is only 25 times heavier than our star. It could illuminate much more than the Sun, since the brightness of KY Cygnus exceeds the solar brightness many millions of times, so it may well win in the “Brightest” category.
VV Cephei A
This double is located in the constellation of the same name, the distance to which is about 5000 light years. It is recognized as one of the largest in its galaxy, second only to VY Canis Majoris. Estimating the radius at the equator of this star, we can say that it is equal to 1900 equatorial radii of our star.
VY Canis Majoris
If we consider Milky Way, then it was this star that became his record holder, with a radius greater than the size of the Sun by more than 1540 times. According to astronomers' research, this star is very unstable and there is an assumption that over the next 100,000 years it will certainly explode, resulting in a gamma-ray burst that can destroy all life that is within 1-2 light years. As for planet Earth, it can only be saved by the enormous distance from our planet to VY Canis Majoris, which is about 4000 light years. Therefore, earthlings can be calm.
VX Sagittarius
Scientists note the pulsation of this variable star, as studies have proven periodic changes in its temperature and volume. And its pulsation can be compared to the beating of a human heart. The equatorial radius of VX Sagittarius is 1520 solar. The star is located in the constellation of the same name, from which it received its name.
Westerland 1-26
The numerical value of the radius of this giant exceeds the Solar one by 1540 times. From Earth to Westerland 1-26 is about 11,500 light years.
WOH G64
The star WOH G64 is called a red star. It can be found by exploring the constellation Doradus, which is located in a galaxy called the Large Magellanic Cloud. From our solar system about 163 thousand light years before it. Its radius is 1730 times greater than that of the Sun. According to research, the star will cease to exist by becoming a supernova. However, this will not happen earlier than in 10-20 thousand years. Although during this time a lot of things can still change.
RW Cepheus
This giant star is red in color and is located more than 2,700 light years from Earth. Its radius at the equator is 1636 times greater than the radius of the Sun.
NML Swan
The star acquired its name based on the name of the constellation where it was discovered by astronomers. Its radius is 1650 times greater than the solar radius. A distance of 5300 light years separates us from NML Cygnus. While studying the structure of the planet, scientists discovered sulfur oxide, hydrogen sulfide and other substances in it.
UY Shield
Scientists agree that UY Scuti is the largest in the entire universe. The record holder is located in the constellation of the same name at a distance of approximately 9.5 thousand light years from us. The star is very bright, but this is hampered by the huge amount of dust and gas around the planet.
Look at the night sky and see that it is filled with stars. But with the naked eye, only a microscopic fraction of them can be seen. There are up to 100 billion stars in one galaxy alone, and there are even more galaxies in the Universe. Astronomers believe that there are about 10^24 stars in the world. These powerful powerhouses come in a variety of colors and sizes - and next to many of them, our Sun looks tiny. But which star will be the true giant of the heavens? We should start by defining what we mean by a giant. Will it be the star with the largest radius, for example, or the one with the largest mass?
Galactic giants
The star with the largest radius is probably UY Scuti, a variable bright supergiant in the constellation Scutum. Located 9,500 light-years from Earth and composed of hydrogen, helium and other heavier elements almost the same composition as our Sun, this star has a radius of 1,708 (give or take 192) times around it.
The star's circumference is about 7.5 billion kilometers. You'd have to fly a plane for 950 years to circle it completely - and even light would take six hours and 55 minutes to do it. If we replaced our Sun with this one, its surface would be somewhere between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn. Of course, there would be no Earth then.
Given its enormous size and possible mass 20-40 times that of the Sun (2-8×10³¹kg), UY Scuti would have a density of 7×10⁻⁶ kg/m³. In other words, it is billions of times less dense than water.
Basically, if you were to put this star in the biggest water bath in the universe, it would theoretically float. Being a million times less dense than the Earth's atmosphere at room temperature, it would also hang in the air like balloon- if, of course, you find enough space for it.
But if these incredible facts We've already managed to surprise you, we haven't even started yet. UY Shield is certainly a big star, but far from a heavyweight. The king of heavyweights is the star R136a1, located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, 165,000 light years away.
Massive attack
This star, a sphere of hydrogen, helium and heavier elements, is not much larger than the Sun, 35 times its radius, but 265 times more massive - which is remarkable considering that in the 1.5 million years of its life it has already lost 55 solar masses.
The type of Wolf-Rayet stars is far from stable. They look like a fuzzy blue sphere with no clear surface, blowing incredibly powerful stellar winds. Such winds move at 2,600 km/s - 65 times faster than the Juno probe, the fastest man-made object.
As a result, the star loses mass at a rate of 3.21×10¹⁸ kg/s, equivalent to Earth's loss in 22 days.
Such cosmic rock stars burn out quickly and die quickly. R136a1 emits nine million times more energy than our Sun, and would appear 94,000 times brighter than the sun for our eyes, if she took his place. In fact, it is the brightest star discovered.
its surface is over 53,000 degrees Celsius (), and such a star will live no more than two million years. Her death will be marked by a colossal supernova explosion, which will not even leave a black hole behind.
Of course, next to such giants, our Sun looks insignificant, but, again, it will also grow as it ages. In about seven and a half billion years, it will reach its maximum size and become a red giant, expanding so much that the Earth's current orbit will be inside the star.
And yet we found these stars by studying only a small fraction of the Universe. What other miracles await us?
Modern astronomy defines stars as huge plasma balls consisting of incandescent mass. Humanity has always been interested in the question of what is the largest star in the Universe and what is its size. This rating includes the TOP 10 largest such objects known to mankind. However, it has a certain degree of convention - there are probably even larger luminaries in space, but we don’t know about them yet, and some of them are variable stars capable of contracting and expanding.
10. Mu Cephei
One of the largest and most powerful stars in our Galaxy with a luminosity 350 thousand times greater than the Sun is rightfully included in the TOP ten stars of our rating. It is approximately 650-1420 times larger than our star, and from its size it becomes clear which largest star is huge. Mu Cephei can accommodate up to 1 billion Suns and 2.7 quadrillion objects such as Earth in its area. If we imagine our planet in the form of an ordinary golf ball with a diameter of 4.3 cm, the width of this star on this scale would be 5500 meters, which is twice the corresponding size of the Golden Gate Bridge. Mu Cephei is 60 thousand brighter than the Sun, and its bolometric luminosity exceeds the solar luminosity by 350 times. At the same time, it belongs to the category of dying, since scientists have recorded irreversible processes of carbon synthesis on it.
9. V766 Centauri
The ranking of the largest stars also includes yellow supergiants. The radius of V766 Centauri has larger size 1490 times compared to 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 Earth by 7.4 thousand light years. The star is surrounded by a dusty shell, and sources of its microwave radiation include water and silicon oxide. During the observation period, they approached AN Scorpius at a speed of 13 km/s, which confirmed the ongoing process of compression of the giant.
7. KY Swan
The hypergiant, thanks to its radius of 1420 solar, rightfully took its place in the TOP 10 largest stars in the Universe. This is a borderline star, and if it had a lower luminosity, it would no longer be classified as a supergiant. Located 5 thousand light years from Earth. KY Cygni is a very bright object that exceeds our star in this indicator by at least 138 thousand times.
6. VX Sagittarius
Another red supergiant included in the list of the largest. It belongs to the group of semi-regular variable stars; according to scientists, it is gradually losing mass due to the influence of stellar wind. Large stars in the Universe, as a rule, are located at a great distance from Earth, and VX Sagittarius is no exception - it is separated from our planet by about 5250 light years. The radius of the giant star ranges from 850 to 1940 solar, and its diameter probably exceeds the similar parameters of the asteroid belt of the Solar System.
5. Westerland 1-26
A red hypergiant located in the constellation Altar. It was discovered by the Swedish astronomer B. Westerlund in the star cluster system Westerlund 1. Anyone who wonders what the largest star is called needs to know that the luminosity of Westerlund 1-26 exceeds that of the Sun by 380 thousand times, and its surface temperature exceeds 3000 K. In the ESO photograph Westerlund 1 appears to be one of the most massive open clusters in the Galaxy.
4. RW Cepheus
A red hypergiant whose name comes from the constellation Cepheus. It is located 11.5 thousand light years away from our planet. It is no coincidence that it is included in the TOP 10 largest stars, since its radius is 1535 times greater than the solar radius. The luminosity of this large object is 625 thousand times greater than that of the Sun. At the end of its life, it can become a hypernova, and its core transforms into a black hole.
3. WON G64
The red supergiant of the Doradus constellation, the second largest star in the Universe. Its estimated radius can reach at least 1540 solar. According to astrophysicists, this large object, one of the TOP largest stars, has lost up to 1/3 of its mass due to stellar wind. Using the Very Large Telescope complex located in Chile, it was possible to obtain an image that helps to understand that the dust and gas around WON G64 forms a torus, reducing its luminosity to 280 thousand solar.
2. VY Canis Majoris
The hypergiant, well known to astronomers, which is named after the constellation of the same name, reaches a size of 1600 solar radii. Moreover, the mass of the object included in the list of the largest stars is only 17 times greater than the Sun, which confirms its extremely low density. The volume of the giant is 7·10 15 times greater than that of the Earth. Astrophysicists studying the star using the Hubble Space Telescope say it will explode as a hypernova in 100,000 years. This photo of VY Canis Majoris shows the star expelling large volumes of gas during its outburst.
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