R136a1
Wolf-Rayet star (WN5h) · RMC 136a1 · BAT99 108
Most massive star known
The most massive and most luminous star known, blazing at the heart of the Tarantula Nebula's R136 cluster. It crowds nearly 200 times the Sun's mass into a furnace so bright it outshines our star millions of times over, tearing its own surface away in a fierce stellar wind.
Illustration generated from temperature, not a photograph
196 ☉
mass (the Sun = 1)
7.2 million ×
as bright as the Sun
46,000 K
surface · blue
43 R☉
radius (the Sun = 1)
163,000 ly
from Earth
12.2
apparent magnitude
It pours out about 7.2 million times the Sun’s light. Its light has been travelling 163,000 years to reach us, so you see R136a1 as it was 163,000 years ago.
Source · Brands et al. 2022, A&A 663, A36 · View on Wikidata
It lives in
Large Magellanic Cloud
Irregular galaxy, 163,000 ly away.
Other notable stars in Large Magellanic Cloud
R136a2Wolf-Rayet star (WN5h)Melnick 42O-type supergiant (O2 If)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
R136a2Wolf-Rayet star (WN5h)5.2 million ×Eta CarinaeLuminous blue variable4.0 million ×Melnick 42O-type supergiant (O2 If)3.6 million ×VFTS 682Wolf-Rayet star (WN5h)3.2 million ×HD 269810O-type giant (O2 III)2.2 million ×HD 5980Wolf-Rayet + blue-variable system2.2 million ×
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→