Melnick 42
O-type supergiant (O2 If) · Mk 42 · BAT99 105
Among the most luminous supergiants known
One of the most luminous supergiant stars in the Tarantula Nebula, an O2 giant pouring out millions of times the Sun's light from the edge of the R136 cluster.
Illustration generated from temperature, not a photograph
189 ☉
mass (the Sun = 1)
3.6 million ×
as bright as the Sun
47,300 K
surface · blue
21 R☉
radius (the Sun = 1)
163,000 ly
from Earth
12.8
apparent magnitude
It pours out about 3.6 million times the Sun’s light. Its light has been travelling 163,000 years to reach us, so you see Melnick 42 as it was 163,000 years ago.
Source · Bestenlehner et al. 2014, A&A 570, A38 · View on Wikidata
It lives in
Large Magellanic Cloud
Irregular galaxy, 163,000 ly away.
Other notable stars in Large Magellanic Cloud
R136a1Wolf-Rayet star (WN5h)R136a2Wolf-Rayet star (WN5h)VFTS 682Wolf-Rayet star (WN5h)HD 269810O-type giant (O2 III)Melnick 34Wolf-Rayet binary (WN5h + WN5h)S DoradusLuminous blue variable
Stars of similar brightness
Eta CarinaeLuminous blue variable4.0 million ×VFTS 682Wolf-Rayet star (WN5h)3.2 million ×R136a2Wolf-Rayet star (WN5h)5.2 million ×HD 269810O-type giant (O2 III)2.2 million ×HD 5980Wolf-Rayet + blue-variable system2.2 million ×Melnick 34Wolf-Rayet binary (WN5h + WN5h)2.0 million ×
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→