How Big is a Star?
It’s hard to comprehend the sheer size of objects in space​, but let’s give it a try!
If the Earth seems big, think again. 1300 Earths​ could fit inside Jupiter.
Dwarf stars can sometimes be as small as planets. Our nearest neighbour, Proxima Centauri is just 200 000 km​ in diameter.
Our Sun is seven times bigger.
Pollux, the closest orange giant star, is more than 8 x the size of the Sun.
Rigel, the bright blue supergiant in Orion, is 10 x bigger still.
Red supergiant Betelgeuse is even bigger and it’s on the verge of going supernova.
#ExplosiveStuff
Red hypergiant VY Canis Majoris is 2 billion kilometres​ across!
More than 1400 x larger than the Sun​.
Mind boggling!
ESO builds and operates a suit of the world's most advanced ground-based astronomical telescopes.
Produced by ESO, translated by—