VY Canis Majoris (abbreviated to VY CMa) is an extreme oxygen-rich red hypergiant or red supergiant (O-rich RHG or RSG) and pulsating variable star 1.2 kiloparsecs (3,900 light-years) 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.[14][15] It is about 17±8 times the mass of the Sun (M☉). 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: 480 arcminutes (′) or 681 ly (209 pc).[16][17]
The radius of VY CMa is very roughly 1,420 times that of the Sun (R☉), which is close to the modelled maximum, the Hayashi limit, a volume nearly 3 billion times that of the Sun.[3] Taking this mid-point estimate as correct, an object travelling at the speed of light would take 6 hours to go around its surface, compared to 14.5 seconds for the Sun.[18] If this star replaced the Sun its surface would, per this approximation, be beyond the orbit of Jupiter.[3]
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unknown but thought to be related to its stellar wind and rotation. VYCanisMajoris is a remote red hypergiant located approximately 3,800 light-years...
largest known stars: Mu Cephei VV Cephei A NML Cygni RW Cephei S Persei VYCanisMajoris - potentially the largest star in the Milky Way KY Cygni PZ Cassiopeiae...
(2007) to state that it might be an extreme red hypergiant, much like VYCanisMajoris. It is also stated that Stephenson 2 DFK 1 is on the brink of ejecting...
"Fundamental properties and atmospheric structure of the red supergiant VYCanisMajoris based on VLTI/AMBER spectro-interferometry". Astronomy and Astrophysics...
PC, PC2, HCP and PH3. It was detected in the circumstellar shell of VYCanisMajoris and in the star forming region catalogued as AFGL 5142. The compound...
"Fundamental properties and atmospheric structure of the red supergiant VYCanisMajoris based on VLTI/AMBER spectro-interferometry". Astronomy & Astrophysics...
the Sun, Antares is dwarfed by even larger red supergiants, such as VYCanisMajoris or VV Cephei A and Mu Cephei. Antares, like the similarly sized red...
{\displaystyle q=2\times 10^{-3}} in the long-period variable M star VYCanisMajoris in the H band, ascribing the CP to multiple scattering in circumstellar...
sometimes used for the most extended and unstable red supergiants like VYCanisMajoris and NML Cygni. The "red" part of "red supergiant" refers to the cool...
largest galactic red supergiants and hypergiants found elsewhere such as VYCanisMajoris and with theoretical models of the coolest, most luminous and largest...
C.H.; Spears, D.L. (1977). "Spatial heterodyne tnterferometry of VYCanisMajoris, Alpha Orionis, Alpha Scorpii, and R Leonis at 11 microns". Astrophysical...
to that of another notable but more extreme cool hypergiant star, VYCanisMajoris, and is also known as a heavily mass-losing OH/IR supergiant. It is...
Size comparison of some well-known supergiant and hypergiant stars, featuring Cygnus OB2-12, V382 Carinae, Betelgeuse, VV Cephei, and VYCanisMajoris...
Red supergiants like Betelgeuse, Antares, Mu Cephei, VV Cephei, and VYCanisMajoris one of the biggest stars in the Universe, are the biggest variety of...
rim near VYCanisMajoris". Astrophysical Journal. 219: 95–97, 99–104. Bibcode:1978ApJ...219...95L. doi:10.1086/155758. "Starshine in Canis Major". www...
the accretion disc around the hot secondary. Stellar classification VYCanisMajoris List of largest known stars Van Leeuwen, F. (2007). "Validation of...
excess, is similar to that of the famous and extreme red hypergiant VYCanisMajoris. However, Stephenson 2 DFK 49 is hotter. The study also estimates the...
Metal Molecules in Oxygen-rich Envelopes: Detection of AlOH (X1Σ+) in VYCanisMajoris". Astrophysical Journal. 712 (1): L93–L97. Bibcode:2010ApJ...712L....
largest-known supergiant stars in the Milky Way are class M stars, such as VYCanisMajoris, VV Cephei, Antares, and Betelgeuse. Furthermore, some larger, hotter...
such as AA Tauri as well as TW Hydrae, IRC +10216 and APM 08279+5255, VYCanisMajoris and S Persei. Liquid water is present on Earth, covering 71% of its...
Type IIn Supernova Progenitors: Spatially Resolved 4.6 μm CO Emission Around VY CMa and Betelgeuse". The Astronomical Journal. 137 (3): 3558–3573. arXiv:0811...
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