Post by glactus on Apr 28, 2011 8:30:42 GMT
The 2 largesr stars known
(1) VY Canis Majoris
VY Canis Majoris is a red hypergiant star located in the constellation of Canis Major. At beteen 1800-2100 solar radii (8.4--9.8 astronomical units,3.063 billion Km or 1.7 billion miles in diameter) it is currently the largest known star and also one of the most luminous known. It is located about 1.5 kiloparsecs or 4,900 light years away from Earth. Magnitude is 7.4
Click URL to See Video
www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8CgDGhYKe8
Click URL for planet & star size video
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBZkyXMQwGw&NR=1
(2) VV Cephei A
VV Cephei A
The red hypergiant, known as VV Cephei A, is currently recognised as the second largest star known, with an estimated solar radius between 1,600 and 1,900solar radii Like Betelgeuse, VV Cephei A is plagued by phenomenal intrinsic to hypergiant stars that make them difficult to measure with precision. VV Cephei is not entirely spherical, and is surrounded by opaque shells of a highly extended atmosphere, which, coupled with limb darkening, unstable luminosity and other factors, make it difficult to determine its true size. It has a very small parallax, so estimates as to its distance, and consequently, most other deductions made about its nature, have a high margin of error.. Distance from Earth is about 3,000 light years and magnitude is 4.91.
Credits: these are NASA/ESA images
Canis Majoris
(1) VY Canis Majoris
VY Canis Majoris is a red hypergiant star located in the constellation of Canis Major. At beteen 1800-2100 solar radii (8.4--9.8 astronomical units,3.063 billion Km or 1.7 billion miles in diameter) it is currently the largest known star and also one of the most luminous known. It is located about 1.5 kiloparsecs or 4,900 light years away from Earth. Magnitude is 7.4
Click URL to See Video
www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8CgDGhYKe8
Click URL for planet & star size video
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBZkyXMQwGw&NR=1
(2) VV Cephei A
VV Cephei A
The red hypergiant, known as VV Cephei A, is currently recognised as the second largest star known, with an estimated solar radius between 1,600 and 1,900solar radii Like Betelgeuse, VV Cephei A is plagued by phenomenal intrinsic to hypergiant stars that make them difficult to measure with precision. VV Cephei is not entirely spherical, and is surrounded by opaque shells of a highly extended atmosphere, which, coupled with limb darkening, unstable luminosity and other factors, make it difficult to determine its true size. It has a very small parallax, so estimates as to its distance, and consequently, most other deductions made about its nature, have a high margin of error.. Distance from Earth is about 3,000 light years and magnitude is 4.91.
Credits: these are NASA/ESA images
Canis Majoris