VY Canis Majoris size and scale context

VY Canis Majoris is an extreme red hypergiant wrapped in a dense, asymmetric cloud of its own ejecta. Its vast infrared glow and clumpy nebula show a star losing matter so violently that the surrounding outflow becomes part of the story. Read its scale context, comparisons, and journey links on the canonical object page.

Sagittarius A*Supermassive black hole·24.5 million km

AldebaranRed giant branch star·62.8 million km

RigelBlue supergiant star·103 million km

DenebA-type supergiant star·280 million km

BetelgeuseRed supergiant star·1.05 billion km

VY Canis MajorisRed hypergiant star·1.98 billion km

Solar SystemPlanetary system·9 billion km

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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.

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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

Open Scale of Space Browse all comparisons

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

Open Scale of Space Browse all comparisons

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

Stars

VY Canis Majoris

Scale fact1.98 billion kmdiameter

Object class: Red hypergiant star
Mass: ~17 solar masses
Temperature: ~3,500 K surface
Estimated age: ~8 million years
Composition: Hydrogen and helium

Planetary systems

Solar System

The Solar System’s main planetary span extends from the Sun out to Neptune’s orbit, not to its far larger comet reservoirs. Beyond the planets it continues through the Kuiper Belt and, much farther out, the Oort Cloud, so the familiar planetary layout is only the compact inner start of the Sun’s domain.

Scale fact9 billion kmorbital diameter

Object class: Planetary system
Host: Sun
Estimated age: ~4.6 billion years