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Name: Dave
Status: educator
Age: 60s
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: Saturday, June 08, 2002
Question:
WHAT IS THE LARGEST KNOWN STAR IN OUR UNIVERSE -- I READ SOMEWHERE (NEWSPAPER) THAT A STAR WAS DISCOVERED THAT ITS DIAMETER WAS MEASURED IN LIGHT YEARS.

Replies:
Dave

The term "largest" is ambiguous because it could mean diameter, mass, output of visible radiation, or output of total radiation, and so on. The largest star I could find is called the Pistol Star because that is the constellation where it is located in the constellation "Pistol". NASA reports it is ten million (10^7) times brighter than the Sun, and a mass of approximately 100 times of the Sun.

You can track this down further, and learn a lot of other interesting astronomy, by searching the NASA home page and the HUBBLE TELESCOPE home page and follow the links you find there.

Vince Calder


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