This is a list of the most massive stars. The list is ordered by solar mass. Stellar mass is the most important attribute of a star. It determines a star’s luminosity, its physical size, and its ultimate fate. Studying the densest known cluster of stars in our galaxy, the Arches cluster, astronomers determined that stars are not created any larger than about 150 times the mass of our Sun, or 150 solar masses. A more massive star could not hold itself together, with a resultant outflow of stellar material and mass loss. The outward pressure of a star’s energy from its central nuclear processes exceeds its inward gravitational pull. This is called the Eddington limit. The Pleiades star cluster A star is any massive gaseous body in outer space, just like the Sun. ... In astronomy, the solar mass is a unit of mass used to express the mass of stars and larger objects such as galaxies. ... In physics, luminosity is the density of luminous intensity in a given direction. ... Pressure is the application of force to a surface, and the concentration of that force in a given area. ... The word nuclear means of or belonging to the nucleus of something. ... Gravity is the force of attraction between massive particles due to their mass. ... In physics, the Eddington Limit is a natural limit to the luminosity that can be radiated by spherically symmetric accretion onto a compact object, like a black hole. ...
Hubble Space Telescope image showing debris from past eruptions and the star itself. ... The Pistol Star, probably the brightest star in the Milky Way galaxy, is 10 million times as bright as the Sun and about 100 times as massive. ... S Doradus is the brightest star in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. ...
Other Objects
Regular black holes are objects with approx. 4–15 times the mass of our Sun.
An artists impression of a black hole with a closely orbiting companion star that exceeds its Roche limit. ... An Intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) is a black hole whose mass is significantly more than stellar black holes (a few tens of the mass of Sun) yet far less than supermassive black holes (a few millions of the mass of Sun). ... Top: artists conception of a supermassive black hole drawing material from a nearby star. ... In astronomy, the solar mass is a unit of mass used to express the mass of stars and larger objects such as galaxies. ...
This is a list of the least massive stars. ... // By apparent magnitude Below the 100 Brightest stars as seen from Earth (by apparent magnitude at visible wavelengths) according to the Hipparcos sky survey. ... This is a list of the smallest stars. ... Below a list of the largest stars, by solar diameter. ... This list of the nearest stars to Earth is ordered by increasing distance. ... The following is a partial list of stars which have their own articles in Wikipedia. ...
The newly crowned largest stars, already known to astronomers as KW Sagitarri, V354 Cephei and KY Cygni, are all in our Milky Way galaxy and within 10,000 light-years of the Sun.
Despite their tremendous diameters, the stars are not the most massive in the universe, said MIT undergraduate student Emily Levesque, who presented the findings.
The most well-known red supergiant is Betelgeuse, which is about 650 times the diameter of the Sun and, owing in part to its proximity, is the 10th brightest star in our night sky.
The masses listed in the table are inferred from theory, using difficult measurements of the stars’ temperatures and absoulute brightnesses.
All the listed masses are uncertain: both the theory and the measurements are pushing their limits; either could be a bit off.
For a sufficiently massive star, the outward pressure of radiant energy generated by nuclear fusion in the star’s core exceeds the inward pull of its own gravity.
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