Images beyond human logic in this movie depicting the Sun with Stephenson 2-18, one of the largest stars known. Good vision
Stephenson 2-18 is also known as RSGC2-18 and Stephenson 2 DFK 1. The red supergiant is located about 20,000 light years away from the Earth in the direction of the constellation of Scudus (the video you find at the end of the article of the comparison with the Sun is incredible). It is located within the enormous open star cluster of Stephenson 2 in the company of 25 other red supergiants (a record among known clusters). Furthermore it is the second most massive among those of the Milky Way (30-50 thousand solar masses) and has an age estimated between 14-20 million years.
One of the biggest stars
According to the latest studies, Stephenson 2-18 is now considered among the largest known stars, if not the largest: we are talking about a radius of 2,158 solar rays. UY Scuti it is estimated to have a radius approximately 1,700 times greater than that of the Sun (the solar radius is equivalent to 696,340 km). The absolute magnitude estimate gives the star a brightness of nearly 440,000 L☉ (solar luminosity), with an effective temperature of 3,200 K. If we were to place it at the center of our Solar System, its photosphere would engulf Saturn’s orbit, the Lord of the Rings. Further observations and studies will tell us more about this star and the challenge between the giants of the Milky Way. Now enjoy the video: you will also find Jupiter, the king of the planets, compared to the largest star.
Here you will find a beautiful comparison between the stars!
Cover image credit Tesserex
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