Mira
Red giant (pulsating variable) · Omicron Ceti
Prototype of the Mira (long-period) variables
A pulsating red giant nearing the end of its life, Mira swells and dims over roughly an 11-month cycle, becoming one of the brightest stars in the sky at maximum and nearly invisible to the naked eye at minimum. It trails a comet-like tail of shed gas spanning light-years.
Illustration generated from temperature, not a photograph
1.2 ☉
mass (the Sun = 1)
8,892 ×
as bright as the Sun
3,000 K
surface · red
350 R☉
radius (the Sun = 1)
300 ly
from Earth
3.0
apparent magnitude
Visible to the naked eyeno equipment needed · apparent magnitude 3.0
It pours out about 8,892 times the Sun’s light. Its light has been travelling 300 years to reach us, so you see Mira as it was 300 years ago.
Source · Wikidata
It lives in
Milky Way
Barred spiral galaxy.
Other notable stars in the Milky Way
Eta CarinaeLuminous blue variableAlnilamBlue supergiantVY Canis MajorisRed hypergiantAlnitakHot blue supergiantDenebBlue-white supergiantMintakaHot blue giant multiple star
Stars of similar brightness
BellatrixHot blue giant star6,397 ×CanopusYellow-white bright giant13,305 ×SpicaBlue giant (close binary)20,512 ×MimosaBlue giant25,704 ×AcruxBlue subgiant (multiple system)31,117 ×HadarBlue giant31,623 ×
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→