The most luminous stars

The most luminous star in gravityfinder is R136a1, radiating about 7,200,000 times as much light as the Sun.

Luminosity is the light a star actually pours out, in units of the Sun's, regardless of how far away it is. It is the honest measure of a star's power, where apparent brightness is only how it looks from here.

#StarLuminosityClassDistanceTemperature
1R136a17,200,000× SunWolf-Rayet star (WN5h)163,000 ly46,000 K
2R136a25,200,000× SunWolf-Rayet star (WN5h)163,000 ly47,000 K
3Eta Carinae4,000,000× SunLuminous blue variable7,500 ly–
4Melnick 423,600,000× SunO-type supergiant (O2 If)163,000 ly47,300 K
5VFTS 6823,200,000× SunWolf-Rayet star (WN5h)163,000 ly54,450 K
6HD 2698102,200,000× SunO-type giant (O2 III)163,000 ly52,500 K
7HD 59802,200,000× SunWolf-Rayet + blue-variable system200,000 ly45,000 K
8Melnick 342,000,000× SunWolf-Rayet binary (WN5h + WN5h)163,000 ly53,000 K
9S Doradus1,000,000× SunLuminous blue variable163,000 ly9,000 K
10Romano's Star1,000,000× SunLuminous blue variable (post-LBV)2.7 million ly33,000 K
11B324870,000× SunYellow hypergiant2.7 million ly7,500 K
12WOH G64280,000× SunRed hypergiant163,000 ly3,400 K
13Alnilam270,000× SunBlue supergiant1,250 ly25,000 K
14VY Canis Majoris270,000× SunRed hypergiant3,820 ly3,490 K
15Alnitak250,000× SunHot blue supergiant1,260 ly29,500 K
16Deneb200,000× SunBlue-white supergiant1,410 ly8,525 K
17Mintaka190,000× SunHot blue giant multiple star1,246 ly30,100 K
18Sanduleak -69° 202100,000× SunBlue supergiant (B3 Ia)163,000 ly16,000 K
19Antares76,000× SunRed supergiant550 ly3,660 K
20HV 211263,000× SunRed supergiant (Thorne-Zytkow candidate)200,000 ly3,500 K
21Saiph60,000× SunBlue supergiant650 ly25,700 K
22Betelgeuse60,000× SunRed supergiant548 ly3,654 K
23Hadar32,000× SunBlue giant361 ly25,000 K
24Acrux31,000× SunBlue subgiant (multiple system)348 ly28,950 K
25Mimosa26,000× SunBlue giant280 ly28,840 K
26Spica21,000× SunBlue giant (close binary)250 ly25,300 K
27Canopus13,000× SunYellow-white bright giant307 ly7,557 K
28Mira8,900× SunRed giant (pulsating variable)300 ly3,000 K
29Bellatrix6,400× SunHot blue giant star252 ly21,840 K
30mu2 Sco6,300× SunB2 IV–21,700 K
31HD 818171,800× SunK3 III878 ly4,140 K
32Mirach1,700× SunM0 III199 ly3,802 K
33BD+20 24571,500× SunK2 II5,022 ly4,137 K
34Polaris1,300× SunYellow supergiant Cepheid variable433 ly6,015 K
35Albireo1,300× SunOrange bright giant390 ly4,358 K
36Achernar1,100× SunBlue-white main-sequence star140 ly15,000 K
37HD 1589961,000× SunK5 III925 ly4,069 K
38Alphard970× SunOrange giant177 ly4,095 K
39HD 18438930× SunM2.5 III731 ly3,860 K
40HD 4760850× SunK21,754 ly4,076 K
41bet Cnc790× SunK4 III290 ly4,092 K
42HD 220074780× SunM2 III1,059 ly3,787 K
43HD 208527730× SunM1 III1,018 ly4,035 K
44HD 96127720× SunK2 III1,917 ly3,943 K
45BD+37 3172690× SunK-type1,482 ly4,500 K
46Kochab540× SunK4 III126 ly4,126 K
47HD 112300500× SunM1 III202 ly3,657 K
48BD+03 2562500× SunK-type3,492 ly4,095 K
49Aldebaran440× SunOrange giant65.0 ly3,900 K
50HD 13189430× SunK21,624 ly4,175 K

Showing 50 of 4,515 stars that qualify.

Common questions

What is the most luminous star?

The most luminous star in gravityfinder is R136a1, radiating about 7,200,000 times as much light as the Sun.

How was this list put together?

This ranking uses measured values only: stellar parameters from the NASA Exoplanet Archive for host stars, and the published literature for the curated famous stars. The naked-eye catalog's temperatures are estimated from colour index and its luminosities from absolute magnitude, which are good enough to describe a star and not good enough to rank one, so those stars sit this list out.

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