Myriads of stars dot the night sky. And to a person from Earth, they seem exactly the same. Well, in some parts of the sky, for example, in the Milky Way region, the stars merge into luminous streams.
This is because there is an incredibly huge number of stars in the universe.
In fact, there are so many of them that even the knowledge of modern researchers, which was obtained using the latest equipment (by the way, it allows you to look into space at 9 billion light years) is not enough.
Now there are about 50 billion stars in the depths of space. And every day the figure is only growing, because scientists do not get tired of exploring space and making new discoveries.
brighter than the sun
All stars in the universe have different diameters. And even our Sun is not the largest star, however, not a small one either. She has 1,391,000 kilometers in diameter. There are more significant stars in the Universe, they are called hypergiants. For a long time, VY, which is located in the constellation Canis Major, was considered the largest star. Not so long ago, the radius of the star was refined - and approximately ranges from 1300 to 1540 solar radii. The diameter of this supergiant is about 2 billion kilometers. VY is located 5 thousand light years from the solar system.
Scientists have calculated to imagine how gigantic it is, one revolution around the hypergiant star will take 1200 years, and then if you fly at a speed of 800 kilometers per hour. Or, if we reduce the Earth to 1 centimeter and also proportionally reduce VY, then the size of the latter will be 2.2 kilometers.
The mass of this star is not so impressive. VY is only 40 times heavier than the Sun. This happened because the density of gases inside it is incredibly low. Well, the brightness of the star can only be admired. It shines 500 thousand times stronger than our heavenly body.
The first observations of VY that were recorded are in the star catalog of Joseph Jérôme de Lalande. The information is dated March 7, 1801. Scientists pointed out that VY is a star of the seventh magnitude.
But in 1847, information appeared that VY had a crimson hue. In the nineteenth century, researchers discovered that the star has at least six discrete components, so it is likely a multiple star. But now it turned out that the discrete components are nothing more than bright patches of the nebula that surrounds the hypergiant. In 1957, visual observations and high-quality images from 1998 showed that VY was missing a companion star.
However, by our time, the largest star in the universe has already managed to lose more than half of its mass. That is, the star is aging and its hydrogen fuel is already running out. The outer part of VY has become larger due to the fact that gravity can no longer prevent weight loss. Scientists say that when a star runs out of fuel, it will most likely explode in a supernova and turn into a neutron star or a black hole. According to observations, the star has been losing its brightness since 1850.
Lost leadership
However, scientists do not leave the study of the Universe for a minute. Therefore, this record was broken. Astronomers have found an even bigger star in the vastness of space. The discovery was made by a group of British scientists led by Paul Crowther at the end of the summer of 2010.
The researchers studied the Large Magellanic Cloud and found the star R136a1. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope helped make an incredible discovery.
The giant in its mass is 256 times larger than our Sun. But in terms of brightness, R136a1 exceeds the celestial body ten million times. Such fantastic figures were a revelation for scientists, because it was believed that stars that exceed the mass of the Sun by more than 150 times do not exist.
And continuing to explore the clusters of stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud, experts have found several more stars that have exceeded this milestone. Well, R136a1 turned out to be a real record holder. The most interesting thing is that throughout their existence, stars lose their mass. At least, such statements are made by scientists. And R136a1 has now lost one-fifth of its original mass. According to calculations, it was equal to 320 solar masses.
By the way, according to experts, if such a star is presented in our Galaxy, it would be brighter than the Sun as much as the Sun is brighter than the Moon.
Record-breaking stars
But the brightest in the visible sky are the stars Rigel and Deneb from the constellations Orion and Cygnus, respectively. Each shines brighter than the Sun 55 thousand times and 72.5 thousand times. These luminaries are removed from us by 1600 and 820 light years.
Another bright star from the constellation Orion is the star Betelgeuse. It is the third largest luminosity. It is brighter than sunlight by the strength of light emission by 22 thousand times. By the way, most of the brightest stars are collected in Orion, although their brightness changes periodically.
But the brightest among the stars closest to Earth is Sirius from the constellation Canis Major. It shines brighter than our Sun only 23.5 times. And the distance to this star is 8.6 light years. In the same constellation there is another bright star - Adara. This star shines like 8700 Suns combined at a distance of 650 light years. Well, the North Star, which many incorrectly consider the brightest visible star, shines 6 thousand times brighter than the Sun. The North Star is located at the tip of Ursa Minor and is 780 light years away from Earth.
If instead of the Sun there were other stars and planets
It is noteworthy that astronomers single out the zodiac constellation Taurus from the total mass. It contains an unusual star, which is distinguished by a supergiant density and a rather small spherical magnitude. According to astrophysicists, it mainly consists of fast neutrons that fly apart. It was once the brightest star in the universe.
Star R136a1 and the Sun
Big luminosity, scientists say, have blue stars. The brightest known is UW CMa. It is 860 thousand times brighter than our heavenly body. But this figure is rapidly falling, as the brightness of the stars changes over time. For example, according to the chronicle, which is dated July 4, 1054, the brightest star was in the constellation Taurus, it could be seen in the sky with the naked eye even in the middle of the day. But over time, the star began to fade and after a while it disappeared altogether. And in the place where she shone, a nebula formed, which looked like a crab. Hence the name Crab Nebula. It appeared after a supernova explosion. By the way, modern scientists have found a powerful source of radio emission in the center of this nebula, in other words, a pulsar. This is the remnant of that bright supernova, which was described in the old chronicle.
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The sun is not the biggest star in the universe. Compared to other stars, it can even be called small. But on the scale of our planet, the Sun is truly huge. Its diameter is 1.39 million km, it contains 99.86% of the entire matter of the solar system, and a million of the same planets as our Earth can be placed inside the star.
The one and only for the inhabitants of the Earth, the Sun is just one of the billions of billions of stars located in our Milky Way galaxy, and beyond it - in the vast Universe. Some of these stars are really huge: they are clearly visible in the electromagnetic range and have a significant gravitational effect on nearby celestial bodies that we can detect them even if they are millions of light years away from our planet. Their dimensions are so large that a person is simply not able to imagine such a gigantic object, therefore they are measured not in kilometers, but in solar radii and solar masses. One solar radius is 696,342 km, and one solar mass is approximately 2,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg.
Stars that are significantly distinguished from others by their mass and size are classified as hypergiants. Among the many hypergiants recorded in the vast expanses of the universe, three of them can be especially distinguished.
R136a1
The largest star will not always be the heaviest, and vice versa, the heaviest star does not have to be the largest at all. This is easily proved by the star under the beautiful name R136a1. Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud at a distance of 165,000 light years from Earth, its mass is 265 solar masses, which is an absolute record at the moment, while its radius is "only" 31 solar radii. The huge reserves of fuel inside this hypergiant and the extremely high density of matter allow R136a1 to emit 10 million times more light than the Sun, making it the brightest and most powerful star discovered to date. Scientists suggest that at the beginning of its life, this star could reach 320 solar masses, however, the stellar matter in the atmosphere of R136a1 accelerates more than the second cosmic velocity and overcomes the gravity of this celestial body, which generates a strong stellar wind, i.e. the outflow of stellar matter into interstellar space with a rapid loss of its mass.
UY Scutum will not amaze you with its mass, which is 10 solar radii, but you will be surprised by its colossal size - about 1500 solar radii. The distance to UY Scutum is 9500 light years, and at this distance it is difficult to say the exact radius of the star, but astronomers suggest that during pulsations it can increase to 2000 solar radii! If such a giant were placed in the center of the solar system, then it would swallow up all of space, including the orbit of Jupiter along with the planet itself. The volume of this hypergiant is 5 billion times greater than the volume of the Sun.
UY Scutum in the constellation Scutum | UY Shield is located at a distance of almost ten thousand light-years from the solar system, but due to the fact that the star is one of the brightest among those discovered, it can be easily seen from Earth with an ordinary amateur telescope, and in especially favorable conditions with the naked eye. By the way, if UY Scutum were not surrounded by a large cloud of dust, then this star would be the fifth brightest object in the night sky, while now it is the eleventh.
NML Cygnus
The star NML Cygnus is a real record holder with a radius equal to 1650 solar radii. During the pulsations of a star, the radius can reach about 2700 solar radii! If you place this hypergiant in the center of the solar system, then its photosphere will go far beyond the orbit of Jupiter, covering half the distance to Saturn.
Photograph of the Cygnus OB2 group of stars | source The star NML Cygnus, located in the constellation Cygnus at a distance of 5300 light years from Earth, is the largest star known to astronomy at the moment. However, we can say with confidence that further exploration of space will bring new discoveries and records.
>largest star in the universe
UY Scuti - the largest star in the universe: description and characteristics of a star with a photo, location in the constellation, distance from the Earth, a list of the largest stars.
When looking at the night sky, it's easy to feel tiny. You just need to select an object for comparison. How about a star? Just look into the territory of the Scutum constellation and you will find the largest star in our galaxy and the visible Universe - UY Scutum.
In 1860, the star was found by German scientists at the Bonn Observatory. But only in 2012 was it possible to conduct a survey with the Very Large Telescope (Atacama Desert). Since its discovery, it is the largest star in terms of size, surpassing Betelgeuse, VY Canis Major and NML Cygnus.
Of course, there are record holders for brightness and density, but UY Scutum has the largest overall size at a radius of 1,054,378,000 to 1,321,450,000 miles, which is 1,700 times the sun.
People think that the Earth is huge. But let's take an 8-inch ball. The scale of the Sun would then be 73 feet in diameter, which is more than the height of the White House. Now let's put UY of the Shield next to it and we get a diameter of 125,000 feet.
What happens if you put UY Shield on a sunny position? The star will dine on the first five planets and exit Jupiter's orbital path. But many people think that it can even cross the line of Saturn's orbit.
Well, let's be glad that the star is still not located in the solar system and is 9500 light years away.
It is important to emphasize that with the improvement of terrestrial instruments, we are discovering new objects that are distant over long distances. Which means we might one day bump into an even bigger star.
It is worth noting that the largest known stars are represented here, as there are still many objects out of sight. Also, some of the named ones act as variables, which means that they are constantly compressed and expanded. Now you know what is the largest star in space. Let's take a look at the rest of the top ten the largest stars in the universe:
List of the largest stars in the universe
The radius of the red supergiant VY Canis Majoris reaches 1800-2100 solar, which makes it the largest in the galaxy. If put in place, it would cover the orbital path. It is 3900 light-years away in the constellation Canis Major.
It is a red supergiant, 1000 times the solar radius. Located 6000 light years away. Represented by a binary system, where the main star is accompanied by a small blue one.
Mu Cephei
Mu Cephei is a red supergiant with a radius 1,650 times that of the sun and 38,000 times brighter.
V 838 Monocerotis is a red variable star, 20,000 light years distant. It can reach the size of Mu Cepheus or VV Cepheus A, but a large distance makes it difficult to determine exactly. The range covers 380-1970 solar radii.
A red supergiant that is 1540 times the solar radius. It is located in the constellation Dorado.
V354 Cephei
A red supergiant that exceeds the solar radius by 1520 times. It is 9000 light years away in the constellation Cepheus.
KY Swan
1420 times the solar radius, although some estimates put forward a figure of 2850 times. The star is 5000 light years away and has not yet been able to get a clear image.
KW Sagittarius
The red supergiant is 1460 times larger in radius than the Sun. Located at 7800 light years.
RW Cephei
Red supergiant with a radius of 1600 solar. From the position of the Sun, it could reach the orbital path of Jupiter.
A red supergiant whose radius is 1000 times that of the sun. This is the most popular star, as it is located quite close (640 light years) to. At any moment it can transform into a supernova.
The biggest star in the Universe April 8th, 2016
We continue to add to our
The Sun is about 110 times larger than the Earth. It is even larger than the giant of our system - Jupiter. However, if we compare it with other stars in the Universe, our luminary will take a place in the nursery of a kindergarten, that's how small it is.
Now let's imagine a star that is 1500 times larger than our Sun. Even if we take the entire solar system, it will be a point against the background of this star. This giant is called VY Canis Major, whose diameter is about 3 billion km. How and why this star was blown to such dimensions, no one knows.
And a bit more...
Hypergiant VY Canis Majoris is 5000 light years away. In 2005, the diameter of the star was determined, which was approximately 1800 to 2100 solar radii, that is, from 2.5 to 2.9 billion kilometers in diameter. If this hypergiant from the constellation Canis Major is placed in the center of the solar system, that is, instead of the Sun, then the star will occupy all the space up to Saturn itself!
Even if you fly at the speed of light, then in a circle you can fly around a star in only 8 hours, and at supersonic speed, that is, 4500 km / h, it will take 230 years.
It is interesting that with such supergiant dimensions, the star does not weigh so much, only about 30-40 solar masses. This suggests that the density in the interior of the star is very small. If we calculate the weight and size, then the density comes out to be about 0.000005, that is, one cubic kilometer of the star will weigh about 5-10 tons.
The VY star in Canis Major is the subject of endless controversy. According to one version, this star is a large red hypergiant, according to another, it is a supergiant, which has a diameter of 600 times the Sun, and not, as is customary, 2000 times.
The VY Canis Major star, as research has shown, is rather unstable. Astronomers studying the star with the Hubble telescope predicted that in the next 100,000 years the star would explode. The explosion will release a burst of gamma radiation that will destroy all life within a radius of several light years. This radiation does not threaten us with anything, because the hypergiant is too far from the Earth.
Clickable 4000px
The image shows one of the most complete maps of our universe. Each point on it is a separate galaxy, as huge as our Milky Way itself. The dark zone at the galactic equator is an artifact of our own location: we can see galaxies in the equatorial sector of the sky only in a narrow interval from 120 ° to 240 °, and even that is bad, due to the fact that the galactic equator is densely packed with stars and interstellar gas of our own galaxy the Milky Way, which absorbs the radiation of distant galaxies.
Because of this, we don’t see anything at all towards the core of our galaxy, but in the opposite direction, which is closed from us only by the loose Perseus sleeve, we can still see something. But to the galactic north and galactic south, we have the opportunity to survey the universe for millions and billions of light years. (
