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How big is the Pistol Star?

The Pistol Star is 1.2 terameter

The Big, Bright, and Mysterious Pistol Star

Have you ever looked up at the night sky and wondered about the size of the stars? If so, let me take you on a journey through the cosmos to one of the most interesting and massive stars in our Milky Way Galaxy - the Pistol Star. The Pistol Star, named after the Pistol Nebula it illuminates, is an incredibly bright and huge blue hypergiant star. It’s located about 25,000 light-years away from Earth, towards the constellation Sagittarius. Now, you might be thinking, “25,000 light-years? That’s far!” And you would be right! A light-year is the distance light travels in one year, which is about 6 trillion miles. So, the Pistol Star is really, really far away!

Size Comparison of the Pistol Star

To understand how big the Pistol Star is, let’s compare it to things we are familiar with. Imagine, if you will, our Sun. Our Sun is massive, right? But compared to the Pistol Star, our Sun is just a tiny dot.

  • The Pistol Star is about 100 times bigger than our Sun. If the Pistol Star was placed where our Sun is, it would extend beyond the orbit of Mars!
  • If we compared the brightness of the Pistol Star to our Sun, it’s like comparing a flashlight to a firework. The Pistol Star is about 3.3 million times brighter than our Sun!
  • Imagine the light of 3.3 million Suns all shining at once. That would be incredibly bright and is exactly how luminous the Pistol Star is. However, even though the Pistol Star is extremely bright, we can’t see it with our naked eyes. Why? Because there is a lot of space dust between us and the star that absorbs almost all of its visible light.

The Mighty Star of the Quintuplet Cluster

The Pistol Star is not alone in its magnificence. It is part of the Quintuplet Cluster, a group of massive young stars in the Galactic Center region of the Milky Way. The Quintuplet Cluster is an exciting place filled with stars that are just as big, bright, and mysterious as the Pistol Star. To give an idea of the company the Pistol Star keeps:

  • One of its neighbors is V4998 Sagittarii, another giant star with a size comparable to the Pistol Star.
  • The Quintuplet Cluster itself is named for its five brightest stars, of which the Pistol Star is one.

The Unseen Marvel of the Milky Way

The Pistol Star, despite its size and brightness, remains a hidden gem in our galaxy. Its light is obscured by the interstellar dust, making it an unseen marvel. But even though we can’t see it, knowing about it and understanding its size, its brightness, and its place in the cosmos can give us a sense of wonder and appreciation for the vastness and beauty of our universe. So, the next time you look up at the night sky, remember the Pistol Star. Even though you can’t see it, it’s out there, shining brightly, a testament to the incredible diversity and grandness of the universe we live in.

Smaller By Category
Betelgeuse
Though stars can live for trillions of years, Betelgeuse is so big that it will only live for just over 8 million years. Since it is that old, it could explode at any moment! When it explodes, the supernova will be visible during the day. More likely however, it'll explode thousands of years from now.
VV Cephei A
For a while VV Cephei A was the largest known star. Now that title belongs to Stephenson 2-18. That's because new stars are being discovered all the time!
Antares
Antares is a red supergiant very near the ecliptic, so it gets occulted (blocked) by the Moon quite often. Also, Antares weighs septillions of tons and is losing weight through solar wind, but this method is slow. The fast way is to explode, which it'll do later.
Larger By Category
Mu Cephei
Mu Cephei is very red. It is sometimes referred to as "Herschel's Garnet Star" because it is garnet red. Another alternative name is Erakis, if you don't like the first two names.
KY Cygni
KY Cygni is 200,000 times more luminous than the Sun, and the Sun is pretty luminous, isn't it? The Sun is so luminous you aren't supposed to look at it! However, it's okay to look at KY Cyngi because it is 300 million times farther away.
VY Canis Majoris
VY Canis Majoris is one of the largest known stars. It is so large that if it were placed in the Solar System, it would extend beyond the orbit of Saturn! It would take a plane 800 years to circle it once.