Stars · Wolf–Rayet star

R136a1

163,000 light-years · Light crosses it in 3.3 minutes

Across

59.4 million km

Vs Earth

43× Sun

Mass

196 Suns

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In the app, R136a1 is part of the Beyond pack.

About

R136a1 is the most massive star known: around 200 Suns packed into a Wolf–Rayet star in the Tarantula Nebula. It is so luminous that it would outshine our Sun by millions of times.

The most massive star known — nearly 200 Suns — and millions of times as bright.

At a glance

Distance	163,000 light-years
Mass	About 196 Suns
Brightness	4.6 million Suns
Age	1–2 million years

Did you know

1. It loses more mass in a year than the Sun does in a million.
2. Sharper images in 2022 lowered the mass estimate — crowded fields can make several stars look like one.
3. Stars this heavy live only a few million years before collapsing.

Real photo

• The R136 star cluster, home of R136a1, Hubble — NASA, ESA, P Crowther (University of Sheffield) (CC BY 4.0) · source