The universe is so big, and light travels only so fast, so many of the stars we see in the night sky (suns in other solar systems in the universe) have already died hundreds or thousands of years ago. It’s very hard to work out the size of a sun without being able to see it close up, so the further away it is from earth, the harder it is to work out the size. BUT astrophysicists can calculate an estimate of their size based on their brightness, and what they can see in the telescope.
Earth’s sun (Sol) has a diameter of about 1,392,684 km and scientists estimate that sun KY Cygni could be 2800 times bigger and Westerlund 1-26 could be 2500 times bigger
It seems like each year we find a bigger star. As of 2013, the biggest star in the universe is R136a1, which is a Wolf–Rayet star and the most massive star known ever. It is an estimated 265 solar masses which means it weighs in at 265 times the mass of the Sun. It is also the most luminous star known at 8,700,000 times the luminosity of the Sun. This star is insane – I wouldn’t want to come any near of it.
The universe is so big, and light travels only so fast, so many of the stars we see in the night sky (suns in other solar systems in the universe) have already died hundreds or thousands of years ago. It’s very hard to work out the size of a sun without being able to see it close up, so the further away it is from earth, the harder it is to work out the size. BUT astrophysicists can calculate an estimate of their size based on their brightness, and what they can see in the telescope.
Earth’s sun (Sol) has a diameter of about 1,392,684 km and scientists estimate that sun KY Cygni could be 2800 times bigger and Westerlund 1-26 could be 2500 times bigger
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It seems like each year we find a bigger star. As of 2013, the biggest star in the universe is R136a1, which is a Wolf–Rayet star and the most massive star known ever. It is an estimated 265 solar masses which means it weighs in at 265 times the mass of the Sun. It is also the most luminous star known at 8,700,000 times the luminosity of the Sun. This star is insane – I wouldn’t want to come any near of it.
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