With the first color image in deep space taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, we realized once again that we as humans are very small in this universe. For example, the sun, which gives life to our earth, seems huge to us and we can’t imagine anything bigger than that. But in the same galaxy as us There is a star named Stephenson 2 – 18 It is thousands of times bigger and hotter than the sun, which we see huge.

Stephenson 2 – 18 is already the largest star ever discovered. Although it is thousands of light years away, we know a lot about it thanks to space studies that accelerated with the development of technology. But we still don’t really know him because he is far, far away. Bride Stephenson 2 – 18 stars All known facts about Let’s take a closer look and get to know this supergiant a little better.

First, what is Stephenson 2 – 18?

Before moving on to the known details, let’s define what Stephenson 2 – 18 is. Stephenson 2 – 18, located in the constellation Scutum and It is a red supergiant member of the Stephenson 2 open cluster. Stephenson 2 – 18, which is thousands of times larger and much hotter than the Sun, is thousands of light years away from our Earth.

Stephenson 2 – 18 vs Sun: How tall is Stephenson 2 – 18 from the sun?

How sure is the size of the Stephenson 2 – 18, everyone is very curious. Let’s think about it this way, if Stephenson were 2 – 18 where the sun is. The field consisting of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and Jupiter would be completely covered by it. Because Stephenson 2 – 18 is exactly 2150 times larger than the Sun. In terms of volume, Stephenson 2 – 18 is exactly 10 billion times larger than the Sun.

Stephenson 2 – 18 biggest star?

Stephenson 2 – 18 is a red supergiant of the spectral type M6. The magnitude of Stephenson 2 – 18 is defined as 2150 sun rays. Taking into account that the sun is about 700 thousand kilometers in diameter, you need to calculate it. In this regard, Stephenson 2 – 18 is the largest star ever discovered. Of course the universe is infinite, who knows how many bigger stars there are.

Previously, experts had discovered the stars MY Cephei in the constellation Cepheus, which is 2061 times the size of the Sun, and WY Velorum in the Vela constellation, which is 2028 times the size of the Sun, closest to the radius Stephenson 2 – 18 . The biggest stars ever known They were the stars WOH G64 in a radius of 1540 sun and UY Scuti in a radius of 1730 sun. So every day we discover a bigger star.

When was Stephenson 2 – 18 discovered, what is known about it?

Stephenson 2 – Stephenson 2, with 18 stars, is one of the largest open star clusters in the Milky Way. This cluster was first introduced in June 1990. It was discovered by American astronomer Charles Bruce Stephenson. The cluster emerged after an examination with a deep infrared objective prism in space.

A 2007 study revealed that the Stephenson 2 cluster contains 26 red supergiants, the largest known population in the Milky Way. The cluster is estimated to be about 17 million years old by plus or minus 3 million years. The Stephenson 2 cluster contains 20% of the known red supergiants in the galaxy. In another study conducted in 2023 on M-class supergiants in the cluster, maser emissions were detected. This means that the two brightest stars with detected maser emissions have a much higher percentage of mass loss than the others.

In another study, Stephenson 2 – 18 star is one of the other stars in the cluster. It turned out to have a lower radial speed of 20 km/s. Stephenson 2 – 18 is a red supergiant, but research has shown that the outer layers change, gradually turning into a bright blue color.

Where is Stephenson 2 – 18?

With Stephenson 2 – 18, the largest star ever discovered There is a distance of exactly 18900 light-years between our Earth. Stephenson 2 – 18; It is a member of the Stephenson 2 open star cluster, located in the constellation Scutum. The open star cluster Stephenson 2 covers 1.8 percent of the sky, but is invisible because it is covered in dust. Visible with infrared light, the Stephenson 2 cluster is located at the intersection of the Alpha and Beta Scuti celestial regions.

Scutum constellation with Stephenson 2 – 18:

Stephenson 2 – The full name of the constellation Scutum, which contains 18 red supergiants, is Scutum Sobiescianum. This name is the one who discovered it It was given by the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius. When we examine the origin of the name, we see that this name was given in honor of the Polish king of that period.

Scutum is one of the smallest and faintest constellations in the sky. Scutus, the 84th largest constellation, It occupies only 109 square degrees in the sky. No star in the constellation Scutum makes the list of the 300 brightest stars in the sky.

The most popular members of the Scutum constellation are the white giant star Delta Scuti and variable is the red supergiant UY Scuti. Other well-known members of the Scutum constellation are open clusters, such as Messier 11, Messier 26, and Stephenson 2, called the Mallard Cluster.

Technical information about Stephenson 2 – 18:

• Spectral class M6
• apparent magnitude of 15.2631 ± 0.0092 G
• 7150 J apparent size
• 4698 H apparent size
• 2.9K apparent size
• 18900 light years, 5800 parsec distance
• −0.0081 ± 0.3120 mas parallax
• RA: −3.045 ± 0.511 mas/year
• Range: -5,950 ± 0.480 mas/year suitable timepiece
• 440 thousand L (90 thousand – 630 thousand L) brightness
• 2150 R radius
• 3 million 200 thousand degrees temperature
• Location of the constellation Scutum
• 18h 39d 02. 3709099153s rise
• −06° 05′ 10.535778038″ deviation
• Names and Designations: Stephenson 2-18, St2-18, Stephenson 2 DFK 1, Gaia DR2 4253084565963481856, MSX6C G026.1044-00.0283, IRAS 18363-0607, 2MASS J18390238-0605106

thousands of times bigger and hotter than the sun All known facts about the biggest famous star Stephenson 2 – 18 We have explained it in detail. Who knows, as you read this, astronomers may discover a new largest star. You can share your thoughts in the comments.