List of Top 10 Largest Stars in the Universe

Many stars within our universe exist, but some of them are unbelievably gigantic. From one perspective, our Sun appears huge, it could hold more than a million Earth-like planets. However; this does not compare to the stars that astronomers have recently found: red supergiants and hypergiants are the largest known types of stars, about 300-1,000 times larger than our own sun.

These are dying supergiants that eventually explode as supernovae. It is currently impossible to know which of these two classes is the "largest", based on what has been learned from the study of supergiants and hypergiants. These stars are the largest that mankind has been able to observe thus far. Scientists have yet to determine which single star in all of creation could hold this title.

Top 10 Largest Stars in the Universe

Here are the 10 largest known stars in the universe, based on their estimated radius compared to the Sun. These massive red supergiants highlight the extreme scale of stellar evolution.

1. UY Scuti

UY Scuti, a red supergiant star that is one of the largest known stars in the universe, has an estimated size of about 1700 times that of the sun. The star, which is located in the constellation of Scutum, is relatively close and very shiny. In addition, UY Scuti is unstable, it is continuously losing its mass via strong stellar winds. Because of how large this star is, if we placed it at the centre of our solar system, its outer layers would reach beyond the orbit of Jupiter.

2. WOH G64

WOH G64, located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (160,000 light years away), is another very large red supergiant star with an estimated size of about 1500 times that of the sun. This star is surrounded by a thick layer of gas and dust, additionally, WOH G64 is in its late stages of evolution and is actively shedding material.

3. VY Canis Majoris

VY Canis Majoris, located in the Milky Way galaxy (3900 light years from the earth), is a red hypergiant star with an estimated size between 1400 and 1500 times that of the sun. VY Canis Majoris is continuously unstable and is continually ejecting an enormous amount of gases and particles into space. The fact that VY Canis Majoris continues to lose its mass indicates that it is approaching the end of its life cycle and will most likely explode as a supernova.

4. WOH S170

The red supergiant star WOH S170 is located in the Large Magellanic Cloud and has an estimated radius of approximately 1,400 times the radius of the sun, thus making it one of the largest known stars. Its incredible size and brightness make it a vital object for investigations into stellar evolution. Like all supergiants, WOH S170 is going through its last phase of life and will ultimately explode as a supernova.

5. AH Scorpii

AH Scorpii is a red supergiant that resides in the constellation Scorpius, part of our Milky Way. AH Scorpii has an estimated 1,400-fold increase over the sun's radius. AH Scorpii is very bright and quasi-stable with, on average, a large mass loss rate due to gravity. AH Scorpii's enormous size and age dictate that it is rapidly approaching the end of its lifecycle and will likely explode as a supernova.