VY Canis Majoris Makes Our Sun Look Like A Speck

VY Canis Majoris has a diameter of almost 2 billion kilometers. (Compare that to the sun's relatively measly 1.4 million!) It's located about 5,000 light-years from Earth, and used to be the largest star known to science. Today, however, scientists believe that UY Scuti might hold that title, boasting a diameter of around 2.4 billion kilometers.

Key Facts In This Video

  1. The sun makes up as much as 99.8% of the total mass of our solar system. 00:45

  2. It would take an airplane around 700–1,100 years to completely circle the star VY Canis Majoris. 01:28

  3. UY Scuti, perhaps the largest star ever discovered, is estimated to have a volume 5 billion times that of the sun. 02:00

Written by Curiosity Staff November 9, 2015
