HV 2112
Red supergiant (Thorne-Zytkow candidate) · SMC V2156
Leading candidate Thorne-Zytkow object
A cool red giant in the Small Magellanic Cloud, and the long-standing candidate for a Thorne-Zytkow object: a theorised hybrid with a neutron star buried at its core. Later studies dispute that reading, so its true nature is still an open question.
Illustration generated from temperature, not a photograph
63,096 ×
as bright as the Sun
3,500 K
surface · red dwarf
200,000 ly
from Earth
12.7
apparent magnitude
Mid-size telescope needed8-10" (200-250 mm) telescope · apparent magnitude 12.7
It pours out about 63,096 times the Sun’s light. Its light has been travelling 200,000 years to reach us, so you see HV 2112 as it was 200,000 years ago.
Source · Levesque et al. 2014, MNRAS 443, L94
It lives in
Small Magellanic Cloud
Irregular galaxy, 200,000 ly away.
Other notable stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud
Stars of similar brightness
SaiphBlue supergiant60,256 ×BetelgeuseRed supergiant59,979 ×AntaresRed supergiant75,858 ×Sanduleak -69° 202Blue supergiant (B3 Ia)100,000 ×HadarBlue giant31,623 ×AcruxBlue subgiant (multiple system)31,117 ×
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→