Deneb size and scale context

Deneb is the blue-white supergiant at one corner of the Summer Triangle and among the most luminous stars visible to the naked eye. It is also the prototype of the Alpha Cygni variables, whose surfaces pulse in multiple overlapping rhythms. Read its scale context, comparisons, and journey links on the canonical object page.

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Between the smallest and the largest, perspective is everything.

About

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.

Guides turn parts of that scale into curated essays, while focused views let you explore the same range through specific groups of objects.

Editorial

Solar System Planets From Electron to Atoms Stars To Scale Birth And Death Of Stars Black Holes To Scale

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Planets of the Solar System Stars of the Universe Black holes Subatomic scale

Return to Earth hello@scaleofspace.org

Between the smallest and the largest, perspective is everything.

About

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.

Guides turn parts of that scale into curated essays, while focused views let you explore the same range through specific groups of objects.

Editorial

Solar System Planets From Electron to Atoms Stars To Scale Birth And Death Of Stars Black Holes To Scale

Views

Planets of the Solar System Stars of the Universe Black holes Subatomic scale

Return to Earth hello@scaleofspace.org

Stars

Eta Carinae A

Eta Carinae A is the luminous blue variable primary in the Eta Carinae system, buried inside the Carina Nebula. Its dense wind makes the star’s surface hard to define, so this record uses an approximate visible stellar disk rather than a clean hydrostatic radius.

Scale fact~334 million kmdiameter

Object class: Luminous blue variable
Mass: ~100 solar masses
Host: Eta Carinae system
Estimated age: ~3 million years
Composition: Hydrogen and helium
Temperature: ~15,000–25,000 K surface

Stars

Betelgeuse

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.

Scale fact1.05 billion kmdiameter

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