Stars · Yellow hypergiant
Rho Cassiopeiae
About 3,400 light-years · Light crosses it in 49 minutes
- Across
- 884.9 million km
- Vs Earth
- 636× Sun
- Mass
- 40 Suns
Open Rho Cassiopeiae in Cosmic Scale
About
Rho Cassiopeiae is a yellow hypergiant, one of the rarest kinds of star, about half a million times brighter than the Sun; in the Sun's place it would reach into the asteroid belt. It is visible to the naked eye despite being thousands of light-years away.
One of the rarest kinds of star, visible to the naked eye in Cassiopeia.
At a glance
| Distance | About 3,400 light-years |
|---|---|
| Radius | Around 600 Suns |
| Brightness | About 500,000 Suns |
| Type | Yellow hypergiant |
Did you know
- In 2000 it shed about 3% of the Sun's mass in a single outburst.
- Only a handful of yellow hypergiants are known in the whole Milky Way.
- It is unstable and pulsates, dimming and brightening irregularly.