How Tiny Is the Sun Compared to Other Stars?
All images: NASA, Akira Fujii,
All images: NASA, Akira Fujii,
The Sun is the largest object in our solar system. It is 1.4 million kilometres in diameter. It is 100 times wider than Earth and about 10 times wider than Jupiter. Despite being this massive, the sun is only an average-sized star, as there are stars of unimaginable size further away in the universe. Here are some stars that are bigger than our Sun:
Stephenson 2–18 is the largest star known so far. It lies 18,900 light-years away from Earth. Stephenson 2–18’s diameter is 2,150 times that of the Sun. If Stephenson 2–18 replaced the Sun in the solar system, it would stretch all the way up to Saturn.
Betelgeuse is roughly 10 million years old and is much younger than the Sun which is five billion years old. Betelgeuse is 700 light-years away from Earth. It’s about 700 times the size of the Sun and around 15 times more massive. According to NASA, if we replaced our Sun with Betelgeuse, it would stretch past Jupiter’s orbit.
Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky and February is the month when Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere observers can see it. It is 8.6 light-years away from Earth. Sirius is slightly more than twice the mass of the sun and just less than twice its diameter.
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