Stars · Yellow hypergiant
HR 5171 A
12,000 light-years · Light crosses it in 1.7 hours
- Across
- 1.8 billion km
- Vs Earth
- 12 AU across
- Mass
- 39 Suns
Open HR 5171 A in Cosmic Scale
In the app, HR 5171 A is part of the Beyond pack.
About
HR 5171 A is a rare yellow hypergiant, and rarer still for having a companion star so close that the two touch, sharing an envelope of gas. It is among the largest yellow stars known.
One of the ten largest stars known, locked in a contact binary.
At a glance
| Distance | About 12,000 light-years |
|---|---|
| Radius | About 1,300 Suns |
| Brightness | Around 1 million Suns |
| Type | Yellow hypergiant, contact binary |
Did you know
- Its companion orbits inside the hypergiant's own atmosphere, taking about 1,300 days.
- Yellow hypergiants are a brief, unstable stage: only a dozen or so are known in our galaxy.
- It has been slowly cooling and swelling over the last forty years of observation.