VY CANIS MAJORIS

Last updated: 04/06/2019

VY Canis Majoris is the second largest star that has been discovered till today. The French astronomer Jerome Laland was the first to record and catalog the star in 1801. So it was found before UY Scuti and it was at one point thought to be the largest star discovered. It is about 4,000 lightyears away from Earth and is part of the Canis Major constellation. Just like most of the other stars discovered, it is located in the Milky Way. VY Canis Majoris is a red hypergiant. These type of stars are so rare in the Milky Way. In fact, most of the stars in our galaxy are smaller than the Sun. But the Sun is a dot when you compare it to this monster star! VY Canis Majoris' radius is 987.89 million km and the mass is 3.381 × 10^31 kg.