List of largest stars explained

List of largest stars should not be confused with List of most massive stars.

Below are lists of the largest stars currently known, ordered by radius and separated into categories by galaxy. The unit of measurement used is the radius of the Sun (approximately 1solar radius).

Overview

Although red supergiants are often considered the largest stars, some other star types have been found to temporarily increase significantly in radius, such as during LBV eruptions or luminous red novae. Luminous red novae appear to expand extremely rapidly, reaching thousands to tens of thousands of solar radii within only a few months, significantly larger than the largest red supergiants.^[1]

Some studies use models that predict high-accreting Population III or Population I supermassive stars (SMSs) in the very early universe could have evolved "red supergiant protostars". These protostars are thought to have accretion rates be larger than the rate of contraction, resulting in lower temperatures but with radii reaching up to many tens of thousands of, comparable to some of the largest known black holes.^[2] ^[3] ^[4]

Angular diameters

The angular diameters of stars can be measured directly using stellar interferometry. Other methods can use lunar occultations or from eclipsing binaries, which can be used to test indirect methods of finding stellar radii. Only a few useful supergiant stars can be occulted by the Moon, including Antares A (Alpha Scorpii A). Examples of eclipsing binaries are Epsilon Aurigae (Almaaz), VV Cephei, and V766 Centauri (HR 5171). Angular diameter measurements can be inconsistent because the boundary of the very tenuous atmosphere (opacity) differs depending on the wavelength of light in which the star is observed.

Uncertainties remain with the membership and order of the lists, especially when deriving various parameters used in calculations, such as stellar luminosity and effective temperature. Often stellar radii can only be expressed as an average or be within a large range of values. Values for stellar radii vary significantly in different sources and for different observation methods.

All the sizes stated in these lists have inaccuracies and may be disputed. The lists are still a work in progress and parameters are prone to change.

Caveats

Various issues exist in determining accurate radii of the largest stars, which in many cases do display significant errors. The following lists are generally based on various considerations or assumptions; these include:

Stellar radii or diameters are usually derived only approximately using the Stefan–Boltzmann law for the deduced stellar luminosity and effective surface temperature.
Stellar distances, and their errors, for most stars, remain uncertain or poorly determined.
Many extended supergiant atmospheres also significantly change in size over time, regularly or irregularly pulsating over several months or years as variable stars. This makes adopted luminosities poorly known and may significantly change the quoted radii.
Other direct methods for determining stellar radii rely on lunar occultations or from eclipses in binary systems. This is only possible for a very small number of stars.
Many distance estimates for red supergiants come from stellar cluster or association membership, because it is difficult to calculate accurate distances for red supergiants that are not part of any cluster or association.
In these lists are some examples of extremely distant extragalactic stars, which may have slightly different properties and natures than the currently largest known stars in the Milky Way. For example, some red supergiants in the Magellanic Clouds are suspected to have slightly different limiting temperatures and luminosities. Such stars may exceed accepted limits by undergoing large eruptions or changing their spectral types over just a few months (or potentially years).

Lists

The following lists show the largest known stars based on the host galaxy.

Milky Way

List of the largest known stars in the Milky Way
The following well-known stars are listed for the purpose of comparison.
Star name	Solar radii (Sun = 1)	Method	Notes<	-- List of stars*** See template documentation (Template:List of largest stars row) for more information about formatting/inputThe table break	- does not need to be placed between template calls, but needs to be placed before manually-inserted linesEvery number/pair of numbers must have a reference!-->
Orbit of Saturn	–		Reported for reference
	1,540 ± 77	L/T_eff	Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud.Possibly the largest known star.
Theoretical limit of star size (Milky Way)	~ or ~1,800		Lower value comes from the rough average radii of the three largest stars studied in the paper. It is consistent with the largest possible stellar radii predicted from the current evolutionary theory, and it is believed that stars above this radius would be too unstable and usually do not form. Higher value is derived from evolutionary modelling of red supergiants with low metallicites and an initial mass of . Reported for reference
RSGC1-F01	, 1,450,	L/T_eff
VY Canis Majoris		AD	An extreme oxygen-rich red hypergiant that has experienced two dimming periods in the 20th century where the star became dimmer by up to 2.5 magnitudes. Potentially the largest known star in the Milky Way.
AH Scorpii		AD
RSGC1-F06		L/T_eff
NML Cygni	<	AD	Surrounding dusty region is very complex making the radius hard to determine.
Stephenson 2 DFK 2		L/T_eff	Another red supergiant, Stephenson 2 DFK 1 has an estimated radius of . However, it is potentially not a member of the Stephenson 2 cluster and also has a distance with an uncertainty of ≳50% due to it only being measured with radial velocities.
S Persei	,	AD
HD 143183 (V558 Normae)	1,261	L/T_eff
RSGC1-F10		L/T_eff
V354 Cephei	1,245	L/T_eff
Westerlund 1 W237 (Westerlund 1 BKS B)		L/T_eff
PZ Cassiopeiae	1,231,,	L/T_eff
ST Cephei	1,218	L/T_eff
IRC -10414	~	L/T_eff
V517 Monocerotis		L/T_eff
RSGC1-F05		L/T_eff
GCIRS 7	,,	AD & L/T_eff
Westerlund 1 W26 (Westerlund 1 BKS AS)	–	L/T_eff
[A72c] 16	1,157	L/T_eff
WY Velorum A	1,157	L/T_eff	A symbiotic binary.
RSGC1-F08		L/T_eff
RSGC1-F02	,, 1,500	L/T_eff
VX Sagittarii	1,1201,550, 1,200, 1,356,	L/T_eff	The most luminous known asymptotic giant branch star. Widely recognised as being among the largest known stars.
Orbit of Jupiter	–		Reported for reference
V582 Cassiopeiae	1,111	L/T_eff
RW Cygni		AD
RSGC1-F04	, 1,100,	L/T_eff
UU Persei		L/T_eff
Stephenson 2 DFK 49		L/T_eff	A K-type star similar to the yellow hypergiant IRC +10420 that has left its red supergiant stage.
LL Pegasi	1,074	L/T_eff
HD 126577		L/T_eff
V766 Centauri Aa	1,060–1,160	?	V766 Centauri Aa is a rare variable yellow hypergiant.
CM Velorum	1,048	L/T_eff
AG Camelopardalis	1,048	L/T_eff
	,	AD
		AD
RSGC1-F11		L/T_eff
BC Cygni	1,031–	L/T_eff	A more detailed but older study gives values of (–) for the year 2000, and (–) for the year 1900.
V530 Cassiopeiae	1,017	L/T_eff
RSGC1-F13	,, 1,430	L/T_eff
V602 Carinae	1,015	AD
U Lacertae A	1,013	L/T_eff
KW Sagittarii		AD
Ve 4-64	1,007	L/T_eff
RSGC1-F07		L/T_eff
V349 Carinae		L/T_eff
IRAS 18111-2257	~ (~ cm)	L/T_eff	Estimated based on the bolometric luminosity and assumed effective temperature of 2,000 K. Another period-luminosity-derived luminosity for this star results in a radius of .
V674 Cephei	999	L/T_eff
RSGC1-F09		L/T_eff
CIT 11	982	L/T_eff
V381 Cephei Aa	977	L/T_eff
MSX6C G086.5890-00.7718	(–)–	L/T_eff	Lower values based on the Gaia DR3 effective temperature and the luminosity of Levesque et al. (2005) and that of Messineo & Brown (2019). Higher value based on the GSP Phot-Aeneas library using BR/RP spectra in Gaia DR3.
μ Cephei (Herschel's Garnet Star)	, 1,259, 1,420	L/T	Widely recognised as being among the largest known stars.
V396 Centauri	965	L/T_eff
	964	L/T_eff
RSGC1-F12		L/T_eff
RSGC1-F03	,, 1,200,	L/T_eff
V398 Cassiopeiae (HD 240275)	941	L/T_eff
IRC +60342	940	L/T_eff
V384 Persei		L/T_eff
ψ¹ Aurigae	934	L/T_eff
V645 Cephei	920	L/T_eff
Stephenson 2 DFK 5	911	L/T_eff
UY Scuti		L/T_eff	Initially reported, making it the largest star, a 2023 measurement put the radius at a smaller value of based on the multimessenger monitoring of supernovae.
NR Vulpeculae	908	L/T_eff	Another study give a much smaller radius of .
RW Cephei	,	L/T_eff & AD	A K-type hypergiant star that experienced a "great dimming" event in 2022, similar to Betelgeuse.
V774 Sagittarii	889	L/T_eff
V923 Centauri	881	L/T_eff
IRAS 20341+4047	880	L/T_eff
V540 Sagittarii	880	L/T_eff
V386 Cephei	879	L/T_eff
Trumpler 27-1 (CD-33 12241)	, 1,359	L/T_eff
TYC 3996-552-2	870	L/T_eff
Westerlund 1 W20 (Westerlund 1 BKS D)		L/T_eff
AZ Cygni		AD	Estimated based on data from the CHARA array. Another radii of (2014), (2015) and (2016) are calculated based on the same data.
V348 Velorum	855	L/T_eff
Stephenson 2 DFK 3	855	L/T_eff
BI Cygni		AD
MY Cephei	849	L/T_eff
V509 Cassiopeiae	845	L/T_eff	V509 Cassiopeiae is a variable yellow hypergiant whose size varied from around in 1950–1970 to in 1977, and later decreased to in the 1990s.
TW Carinae	835	L/T_eff
V358 Cassiopeiae	835	L/T_eff
DO 26226	826	L/T_eff
HD 155737	823	L/T_eff
6 Geminorum	821	L/T_eff
RW Leonis Minoris		L/T_eff
HD 300933 A	806	L/T_eff
[W61c] R 53	801	L/T_eff
U Arietis		AD
RT Ophiuchi		AD
HD 95687	797	L/T_eff
HD 62745	790	L/T_eff
BO Carinae		L/T_eff
VV Cephei A	, 1,050	AD	A red supergiant star orbited by a smaller B-type main-sequence star with a radius estimated between 13 and . Widely recognised as being among the largest known stars.
VR5–7		L/T_eff
CL Carinae	770	L/T_eff
RS Persei	,	AD
V355 Cephei	790	L/T_eff
BD+63 3	770	L/T_eff
BD+63 270	769	L/T_eff
V644 Cephei	765	L/T_eff
Betelgeuse (α Orionis)	, or, 944 ± 157, 1,021,, ~1,100 (upper limit)	SEIS, AD, L/T_eff	Tenth brightest star in the night sky. Widely recognised as being among the largest known stars, radius decreased to during the 2020 great dimming event.
BM VIII 11	754	L/T_eff
[SLN74] 2130	752	L/T_eff
IRAS 10176-5802	–(–)	L/T_eff	Lower value based on the GSP Phot-Aeneas library using BR/RP spectra in Gaia DR3. Higher values based on the Gaia DR3 effective temperature and the luminosity of Levesque et al. (2005) and that of Messineo & Brown (2019).
HD 303250		L/T_eff
GY Aquilae
UU Pegasi		AD
IM Cassiopeiae	740	L/T_eff
Stephenson 2 DFK 10	730	L/T_eff
HD 105563 A	723	L/T_eff
Westerlund 1 W75 (Westerlund 1 BKS E)		L/T_eff
XX Persei		AD	Another study from the same author estimates .
	716	L/T_eff
V Camelopardalis		AD
CD-61 3575	716	L/T_eff
AS Cephei	713	L/T_eff
V770 Cassiopeiae (BD+60 299)	713	L/T_eff
	712	L/T_eff
MZ Puppis	708	L/T_eff
GP Cassiopeiae	707	L/T_eff
GCIRS 12N		L/T_eff
V Cygni	700	L/T_eff
V528 Carinae		L/T_eff
Antares A (α Scorpii)		AD	Fourteenth brightest star in the night sky. Widely recognised as being among the largest known stars.
R Horologii	635^[5]	L/T_eff	A red giant star with one of the largest ranges in brightness known of stars in the night sky visible to the unaided eye. Despite its large radius, it is less massive than the Sun.
119 Tauri (CE Tauri, Ruby Star)	587593^[6]	AD
ρ Cassiopeiae		AD	A yellow hypergiant star, similar to V382 Carinae, that is also visble to the naked eye.
CW Leonis	560^[7]	L/T_eff	The nearest carbon star.
V838 Monocerotis	464^[8]	L/T_eff	During the 2002 Red Nova, the star's radius may have increased up to .^[9]
Pistol Star (V4647 Sagittarii)		L/T_eff	One of the most luminous stars known.
Mira A (ο Ceti)	332–402^[10]	AD	Prototype of the Mira variables.
Orbit of Mars	–		Reported for reference
R Doradus		AD	The extrasolar star with the largest apparent size.
Rasalgethi A (α Herculis)	(–)	L/T_eff
Unurgunite (σ Canis Majoris)	^[11]	L/T_eff
Cygnus OB2#12	246^[12]	?	One of the most massive and luminous stars known.
Orbit of Earth (~1 AU)			Reported for reference
Deneb (α Cygni)		?	Eighteenth brightest star in the night sky.
Wezen (δ Canis Majoris)	188	L/T	Thirty-sixth brightest star in the night sky.
Suhail (λ Velorum)	184.5	L/T
Enif (ε Pegasi)	178, 210.4–210.7	L/T_eff
Orbit of Venus			Reported for reference
η Carinae	128742	OD	During the 1843 Great Eruption, the star's radius may have increased up to 4,319–6,032 .^[13]
Gacrux (γ Crucis)	^[14]
Orbit of Mercury	–		Reported for reference
Rigel (β Orionis)		AD	Seventh brightest star in the night sky.
Canopus (α Carinae)	73.3^[15]		Second brightest star in the night sky.
Aldebaran (α Tauri)	45.1^[16]		Fourteenth brightest star in the night sky.
Polaris (α Ursae Minoris)	37.5^[17]		The current star in the North Pole. It is a Classical Cepheid variable, and the brightest example of its class.
Arcturus (α Boötis)	25.4 ± 0.2^[18]	AD	This is the nearest red giant to the Earth, and the fourth brightest star in the night sky.
Pollux (β Geminorum)	9.06 ± 0.03^[19]	AD	The nearest giant star to the Earth.
Spica (α Virginis A)			One of the nearest supernova candidates and the sixteenth-brightest star in the night sky.
Regulus A (α Leonis)	4.35 ± 0.1		The nearest B-type star to the Earth.
Vega (α Lyrae)	×		Fifth brightest star in the night sky.
Altair (α Aquilae)	2.01 × 1.57^[20]		Twelfth brightest star in the night sky.
Sirius A (α Canis Majoris)	1.711^[21]		The brightest star in the night sky.
Rigil Kentaurus (α Centauri)	1.2175^[22]		Third brightest star in the night sky.
Sun			The largest object in the Solar System.

Magellanic Clouds

Star name! style="background:#ffdead;" width=101px
The following well-known stars are listed for the purpose of comparison.
Solar radii (Sun = 1)	Galaxy	Method	Notes
WOH G64	1,540 ± 77	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff	Surrounded by a large dust cloud. Possibly the largest known star.
IRAS 05280–6910	1,367	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff	The most reddened object in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
IRAS 05346-6949	1,211^[23]	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff	It has an estimated mass-loss rate of 0.0017 (566 Earths) per year, the highest for any star.
B90 (WOH S264)	1,210	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff	Has an unusually high metallicity and velocity. Often referred to as its SIMBAD designation [W60] B90.
HV 2242	1,160	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
MSX SMC 018	1,119	Small Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
WOH S338	1,100	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
IRAS 04516-6902	1,085 – 1,283	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
MSX LMC 589	1,051	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
IRAS 05402-6956	1,032	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
	(1,027-2,249)–1,187	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
HV 2450		Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff	A yellow hypergiant.
UCAC2 2674864 (HV 2834)		Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
HV 2362	1,030	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
MG73 59	979^[24]	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff	A yellow supergiant.
HD 268757	979	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff	A G8 yellow hypetgiant.
LMC 147199	990	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
SP77 31-16		Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff	A yellow hypergiant.
LMC 66778	990	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
WOH S457		Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
IRAS 04498-6842 (LI-LMC 60)	(898-1,660),	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff	Lower value derived from fitting models that assume the star's effective temperature to be 3,400 K. Higher value based on the measured effective temperature from van Loon et al. (2005). A newer paper estimates parameters that would result in a radius of .
HV 12185		Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
HV 12793		Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
WOH S57		Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
SP77 28-2		Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
SP77 22-9	850	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
Z Doradus	–956	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
SP77 40-7	810	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
W61 19-24		Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
WOH S28	780	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
SP77 48-6	768	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
WOH S452		Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
WOH S438		Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
LMC 139027	790	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
SP77 45-16	800	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
SP77 54-27	750800	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
SP77 39-17	760	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
HD 269723	, 814–829	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff	A yellow hypergiant.
PMMR 64		Small Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
LH 43-15	740	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
PMMR 116	717	Small Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff
MSX SMC 055	702–	Small Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff	A super-AGB candidate.
SP77 48-6		Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff	A yellow hypergiant.
HV 2112	675 – 1,193	Small Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff	It has been previously considered to be a possible Thorne–Żytkow object.
HV 11417	673–798	Small Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff	Candidate Thorne-Zytkow object.
HD 269953	647–720	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff	A yellow hypergiant.
HD 33579	471	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff	The brightest star in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
S Doradus	100	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff	A luminous blue variable in the S Doradus instability strip.
HD 37974	99	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff	An unusual blue hypergiant with a large dusty disk.
R136a1		Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff	One of the most luminous and most massive stars.
BAT 99-98	37.5	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff	One of the most luminous and most massive stars.
HD 5980 A	24	Small Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff	A luminous blue variable and one of the most luminous stars.

Andromeda (M31) and Triangulum (M33) galaxies

List of the largest known stars in Andromeda and Triangulum galaxies
Star name	Solar radii (Sun = 1)	Galaxy	Method	Notes
	1,540 ± 77	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff	Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud.Possibly the largest known star.
LGGS J013418.56+303808.6	1,363	Triangulum Galaxy	L/T_eff
LGGS J004124.80+411634.7	1,240	Andromeda Galaxy	L/T_eff
LGGS J004255.95+404857.5	785	Andromeda Galaxy	L/T_eff
LGGS J013349.86+303246.1	710–795	Triangulum Galaxy	L/T_eff	A yellow supergiant.
The following well-known stars are listed for the purpose of comparison.
Var 83	150	Triangulum Galaxy	L/T_eff	A luminous blue variable and one of the most luminous stars in M33.

Other galaxies (within the Local Group)

List of the largest known stars in other galaxies (within the Local Group)
Star name	Solar radii (Sun = 1)	Galaxy	Method	Notes<	-- List of stars*** See template documentation (Template:List of largest stars row) for more information about formatting/inputThe table break	- does not need to be placed between template calls, but needs to be placed before manually-inserted linesEvery number/pair of numbers must have a reference!-->
	1,540 ± 77	Large Magellanic Cloud	L/T_eff	Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud.Possibly the largest known star.
Sextans A 10		Sextans A	L/T_eff
WLM 02		WLM	L/T_eff
Sextans A 5		Sextans A	L/T_eff
Sextans A 7		Sextans A	L/T_eff

Outside the Local Group

Note that this list doesn't include the candidate JWST dark stars, with estimated radii of up to 61au or Quasi-stars, with theoretical models suggesting that they could reach radii of up to 40700solar radius.

List of the largest known stars in galaxies outside the Local Group
The following well-known stars are listed for the purpose of comparison.
Star name	Solar radii (Sun = 1)	Galaxy	Group	Method	Notes<	-- List of stars*** See template documentation (Template:List of largest stars row) for more information about formatting/inputThe table break	- does not need to be placed between template calls, but needs to be placed before manually-inserted linesEvery number/pair of numbers must have a reference!-->
	1,540 ± 77	Large Magellanic Cloud		L/T_eff	Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud.Possibly the largest known star.
NGC 55-40	1,285	NGC 55		L/T_eff
SPIRITS 14atl	1,134–1,477	Messier 83	Centaurus A/M83 Group	L/T_eff
SPIRITS 15ahp	1,098	NGC 2403	M81 Group	L/T_eff
Quyllur				L/T_eff	Likely the first red supergiant star at cosmological distances and is also discovered by James Webb Space Telescope.
NGC 55-135	960 ± 65	NGC 55
Godzilla	430–2,365	Sunburst galaxy		L/T_eff	The most luminous known star.
Mothra	271			L/T_eff	A binary star at cosmological distances.
NGC 2363-V1	–	NGC 2366	M81 Group	L/T_eff

Transient events

During some transient events, such as red novae or LBV eruptions the star's radius can increase by a significant amount.

Solar radii
(Sun = 1)!Year!Galaxy!Group!Method!Notes
AT 2017jfs	33,000	2017	NGC 4470		L/T_eff
SNhunt151		2014	UGC 3165	LDC 331	L/T_eff
SN 2015bh		2015	NGC 2770	LDC 616	L/T_eff
AT 2018hso	10,350	2018	NGC 3729	M109 Group	L/T_eff
M51 OT2019-1		2019	Whirlpool Galaxy	M51 Group	L/T_eff
η Carinae	4,319 – 6,032	1845	Milky Way	Local Group	L/T_eff	During the outburst, the star became the second brightest star in sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of between -0.8 and -1.0.
AT 2010dn		2010	NGC 3180	LDC 743	L/T_eff
SN 2011fh	3,980	2011	NGC 4806	Abell 3528	L/T_eff
AT 2014ej		2014	NGC 7552	Grus Quartet	L/T_eff
V838 Monocerotis	3,190	2002	Milky Way	Local Group	L/T_eff
SN2008S		2008	NGC 6946	NGC 6946 Group	L/T_eff
SNhunt120		2012	NGC 5775	Virgo Cluster	L/T_eff
AT 2017be		2017	NGC 2537		L/T_eff
	1,540 ± 77		Large Magellanic Cloud		L/T_eff	Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud.Possibly the largest known star.
PHL 293B star	1,348 – 1,463	2002	PHL 293B		L/T_eff
SNhunt248	~850	2014	NGC 5806	NGC 5846 Group	L/T_eff
R71	500	2012	Large Magellanic Cloud	Local Group	L/T_eff
SN 2000ch	500	2000	NGC 3432	LDC 743	L/T_eff
Godzilla	430 – 2,365	2015	Sunburst galaxy		?
AT 2016blu	~330	20122022	NGC 4559	Coma I Group	L/T_eff	19 outbursts were detected between 2012 and 2022. The star was likely relatively stable the decade before since no outbursts were detected from 19992009.

SN Progenitors

Solar radii
(Sun = 1)!Year!Galaxy!Group!Method!Notes
SN 2020faa		2020	2MASS J14470904+7244157		L/T_eff
SN 2023ixf	–	2023	Pinwheel galaxy	M101 Group	L/T_eff
SN 2020jfo		2020	Messier 61	Virgo Cluster	L/T_eff
SN 2023axu		2023	NGC 2283		L/T_eff
SN 2021agco		2021	UGC 3855	LDC 506	L/T_eff	Nearest ultrastripped supernova known.

Largest stars by apparent size

The following list include the largest stars by their apparent size (angular diameter) as seen from Earth. The unit of measurement is the milliarcsecond (mas), equivalent to . Stars with angular diameters larger than 13milliarcseconds are included.

List of largest stars by apparent size (angular diameter)!Name !
(mas)!Angular diameter type!Distance
!^[25] !Notes
R Doradus	51.18	LD	179	M8III:e	angular diameter.
Betelgeuse (α Orionis)	42.28	LD	408–540
Antares (α Scorpii A)	37.31^[26]	LD	553.5^[27]	M1.5Iab
Rasalgethi (α Herculis)	36.026^[28]	LD	359	M5Ib-II
Mira (ο Ceti)	28.934.9^[29]	Ross	299	M5-M9IIIe	The angular diameter vary during Mira's pulsations.
R Hydrae	23.7	?	482	M6-9e
Arcturus (α Boötis)	21.06^[30]	LD	36.8	K1.5IIIFe-0.5
π¹ Gruis	21^[31]	?	535	S5,7
Aldebaran (α Tauri)	20.58^[32] –21.1	LD	65.3^[33]	K5+III
GY Aquilae	20.46	?	1108	M8
R Lyrae	18.016	LD	310	M4.5III
Scheat (β Pegasi)	17.98	LD	196	M2.5II-III
(ρ Persei)	16.555	LD	308	M4+IIIa
SW Virginis	16.11–16.8	UD	527	M7III:
R Aquarii	15.6116.59	LD	711^[34]	M6.5–M8.5e
g Herculis	15.219.09^[35]	LD	385	M6-III
RS Cancri	15.117.2	LD	490	M6S
Tejat (μ Geminorum)	15.118	LD	230	M3IIIab
R Leonis Minoris	14.4	LD	942	M6.5-9e
S Cephei	14.29	LD	1591^[36]	C7,3e
T Cassiopeiae	14.22	LD	893	M7-9e
Mirach (β Andromedae)	13.749	LD	199^[37]	M0+IIIa
Menkar (α Ceti)	13.238	LD	249	M1.5IIIa
V Cygni	13.114.84	LD	1747	C7,4eJ

External links

Giant Stars An interactive website comparing the Earth and the Sun to some of the largest known stars
Three largest stars identified BBC News
What is the Biggest Star in the Universe? Universe Today

Notes and References

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June 7, 2024.