Scale Comparison

Betelgeuse vs Stephenson 2 DFK 49

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Stephenson 2 DFK 49's quoted visible extent is about 1.5 times Betelgeuse's.

Shared physical scale
1.05billion km
Betelgeuse1.05 billion km
Stephenson 2 DFK 491.6 billion km
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Stephenson 2 DFK 49’s quoted extent is about 1.5 times Betelgeuse’s approximate photospheric diameter.

This is not a precision ranking. Both values depend on how a diffuse, pulsating atmosphere is modeled, and the distance to Stephenson 2 DFK 49 adds further uncertainty.

Objects

Object details and sources

Stars

Betelgeuse

1.05 billion kmdiameter

Betelgeuse is a red supergiant nearing the end of its stellar life. Its dramatic dimming in 2019 and 2020 turned out to be caused by a dusty veil ejected from the star, giving astronomers a rare direct look at how giant stars shed material into space.

Object class
Red supergiant star
Mass
~15–20 solar masses
Temperature
~3,600 K surface
Estimated age
~8–14 million years
Composition
Hydrogen and helium
Visual creditscaleofspace.org / CC BY-NC 4.0
Stars

Stephenson 2 DFK 49

1.6 billion kmdiameter

Stephenson 2 DFK 49 is an extreme red supergiant whose quoted size remains highly uncertain because its outer layers are diffuse and difficult to define. Even so, plausible estimates make it so enormous that its photosphere could approach or even engulf Jupiter’s orbit if placed at the center of the Solar System.

Object class
Extreme red supergiant star
Composition
Hydrogen and helium
Estimated age
~10–20 million years
Temperature
~4,000 K surface
Visual creditscaleofspace.org / CC BY-NC 4.0

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Scale of Space is a scroll-based journey through the universe, placing objects on a single logarithmic scale so you can compare size across an unbroken range.

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