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List Of Largest Known Stars
Below are lists of the largest stars currently known, ordered by radius and separated into categories by galaxy. The unit of measurement used is the radius of the Sun (approximately ). The angular diameters of stars can be measured directly using stellar interferometry. Other methods can use lunar occultations or from eclipsing binaries, which can be used to test indirect methods of finding stellar radii. Only a few useful supergiant stars can be occulted by the Moon, including Antares A (Alpha Scorpii A). Examples of eclipsing binaries are Epsilon Aurigae (Almaaz), VV Cephei, and V766 Centauri (HR 5171). Angular diameter measurements can be inconsistent because the boundary of the very tenuous atmosphere ( opacity) differs depending on the wavelength of light in which the star is observed. Uncertainties remain with the membership and order of the lists, especially when deriving various parameters used in calculations, such as stellar luminosity and effective temperature. O ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Variable Star
A variable star is a star whose brightness as seen from Earth (its apparent magnitude) changes with time. This variation may be caused by a change in emitted light or by something partly blocking the light, so variable stars are classified as either: * Intrinsic variables, whose luminosity actually changes; for example, because the star periodically swells and shrinks. * Extrinsic variables, whose apparent changes in brightness are due to changes in the amount of their light that can reach Earth; for example, because the star has an orbiting companion that sometimes eclipses it. Many, possibly most, stars have at least some variation in luminosity: the energy output of the Sun, for example, varies by about 0.1% over an 11-year solar cycle. Discovery An ancient Egyptian calendar of lucky and unlucky days composed some 3,200 years ago may be the oldest preserved historical document of the discovery of a variable star, the eclipsing binary Algol. Of the modern astronomers, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CM Velorum
CM or its variants may refer to: Arts and media Gaming * ''Championship Manager'', a popular football management simulation game * ''Chessmaster'', a chess computer program series Music * C minor, abbreviated Cm, a minor scale or chord based on C * CM (school), a youth and community music organisation * Classical music, Western art music * Common metre, abbreviated CM, a poetic metre frequently used in hymns Other media * ''Correio da Manhã'', a Portuguese daily newspaper Science and technology Computing * Configuration management, a systems engineering process for establishing and maintaining consistency * Connection Machine, series of supercomputers * Content management, technologies that support the collection, management, and publishing of information * CyanogenMod, alternative firmware for Android phones, rebranded as LineageOS Medicine * Centromedian nucleus, a part of the thalamus * Chiari malformation, a narrowing of the skull which puts pressure on the cere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
KY Cygni
KY Cygni is a red supergiant of spectral class M3.5Ia located in the constellation Cygnus. It is approximately 5,000 light-years away. Observations KY Cyg lies near the bright open cluster NGC 6913, but is not thought to be a member. The location is close to the bright star γ Cygni. It was identified as a variable star in 1930, and later named as KY Cygni. The spectrum was given the MK classification of M3 Ia, with only minor adjustments since. KY Cygni is heavily reddened due to interstellar extinction, losing an estimated 7.75 magnitudes at visual wavelengths. It would be a naked eye star if no light was lost. Properties KY Cygni is classified as a luminous red supergiant with a strong stellar wind. It is losing mass at around and has been described as a cool hypergiant. Its properties are uncertain, but the temperature is around 3,500 K. A model fit based on K-band infrared brightness gives a luminosity of , corresponding to a radius of . Another model ba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
VY Canis Majoris
VY Canis Majoris (abbreviated to VY CMa) is an extreme oxygen-rich (O-rich) red hypergiant (RHG) or red supergiant (RSG) and pulsating variable star from the Solar System in the slightly southern constellation of Canis Major. It is one of the largest known stars, one of the most luminous and massive red supergiants, and one of the most luminous stars in the Milky Way. No evidence has been found that it is part of a multiple star system. Its great infrared (IR) excess makes it one of the brightest objects in the local part of the galaxy at wavelengths of 5 to 20 microns (µm) and indicates a dust shell or heated disk. It is about times the mass of the Sun (). It is surrounded by a complex asymmetric circumstellar envelope (CSE) caused by its mass loss. It produces strong molecular maser emission and was one of the first radio masers discovered. VY CMa is embedded in the large molecular cloud Sh2-310, a large, quite local star-forming H II region—its diameter: 48 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stellar Evolution
Stellar evolution is the process by which a star changes over the course of time. Depending on the mass of the star, its lifetime can range from a few million years for the most massive to trillions of years for the least massive, which is considerably longer than the age of the universe. The table shows the lifetimes of stars as a function of their masses. All stars are formed from collapsing clouds of gas and dust, often called nebulae or molecular clouds. Over the course of millions of years, these protostars settle down into a state of equilibrium, becoming what is known as a main-sequence star. Nuclear fusion powers a star for most of its existence. Initially the energy is generated by the fusion of hydrogen atoms at the core of the main-sequence star. Later, as the preponderance of atoms at the core becomes helium, stars like the Sun begin to fuse hydrogen along a spherical shell surrounding the core. This process causes the star to gradually grow in size, passing throug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RSGC1-F01
RSGC1-F01 is a red supergiant located in the RSGC1 open cluster in the constellation of Scutum. The radius was calculated to be around 1,530 times that of the Sun (the radius is calculated by applying the Stefan-Bolzmann law), making it one of the largest stars discovered so far. This corresponds to a volume 3.58 billion times bigger than the Sun. If placed at the center of the Solar System, the photosphere would engulf the orbit of Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandth t .... See also * RSGC1-F02 References Scutum (constellation) M-type supergiants J18375629-0652322 TIC objects {{supergiant-star-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
UY Scuti
UY Scuti (BD-12°5055) is an extreme red hypergiant or red supergiant star in the constellation Scutum. It is considered one of the largest known stars by radius and is also a pulsating variable star, with a maximum brightness of magnitude 8.29 and a minimum of magnitude 10.56. It has an estimated radius of , thus a volume nearly 5 billion times that of the Sun. It is approximately from Earth. If placed at the center of the Solar System, its photosphere would at least engulf the orbit of Jupiter. Nomenclature and history UY Scuti was first catalogued in 1860 by German astronomers at the Bonn Observatory, who were completing a survey of stars for the '' Bonner Durchmusterung Stellar Catalogue''. It was designated BD-12°5055, the 5,055th star between 12°S and 13°S counting from 0h right ascension. On detection in the second survey, the star was found to have changed slightly in brightness, suggesting that it was a new variable star. In accordance with the internatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orbit Of Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; however, with its larger volume, Saturn is over 95 times more massive. Saturn's interior is most likely composed of a core of iron–nickel and rock (silicon and oxygen compounds). Its core is surrounded by a deep layer of metallic hydrogen, an intermediate layer of liquid hydrogen and liquid helium, and finally, a gaseous outer layer. Saturn has a pale yellow hue due to ammonia crystals in its upper atmosphere. An electrical current within the metallic hydrogen layer is thought to give rise to Saturn's planetary magnetic field, which is weaker than Earth's, but which has a magnetic moment 580 times that of Earth due to Saturn's larger size. Saturn's magnetic field strength is around one-twentieth of Jupiter's. The outer atmosphere is gen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephenson 2-18
Stephenson 2-18 (abbreviated to St2-18), also known as Stephenson 2 DFK 1 or RSGC2-18, is an enigmatic red supergiant (RSG) or possible extreme red hypergiant (RHG) star in the constellation of Scutum. It lies near the open cluster Stephenson 2, which is located about away from Earth in the Scutum–Centaurus Arm of the Milky Way galaxy, and is assumed to be one of a group of stars at a similar distance, although some sources consider it to be an unrelated or foreground red supergiant. It is among the largest known stars, one of the most luminous red supergiants, and one of the most luminous stars in the Milky Way. Stephenson 2-18 has an estimated radius of around , which would correspond to a volume nearly 10 billion times that of the Sun. Taking this estimate as correct, it would take nearly 9 hours to travel around its surface at the speed of light, compared to 14.5 seconds for the Sun. If placed at the center of Earth's Solar System, its photosphere would engulf th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spectral Type
In astronomy, stellar classification is the classification of stars based on their stellar spectrum, spectral characteristics. Electromagnetic radiation from the star is analyzed by splitting it with a Prism (optics), prism or diffraction grating into a spectrum exhibiting the Continuum (spectrum), rainbow of colors interspersed with spectral lines. Each line indicates a particular chemical element or molecule, with the line strength indicating the abundance of that element. The strengths of the different spectral lines vary mainly due to the temperature of the photosphere, although in some cases there are true abundance differences. The ''spectral class'' of a star is a short code primarily summarizing the ionization state, giving an objective measure of the photosphere's temperature. Most stars are currently classified under the Morgan–Keenan (MK) system using the letters ''O'', ''B'', ''A'', ''F'', ''G'', ''K'', and ''M'', a sequence from the hottest (''O'' type) to the coo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
