STEPHENSON 2-18 THE RED SUPERGIANT STAR

Stephenson 2-18, also known as RSGC2-18 and Stephenson 2 DFK 1, is an absolutely massive red supergiant star located 18,900 light-years away in the constellation Scutum. With a radius over 2,150 times larger than our Sun, it is currently the largest known star in the observable universe.This celestial behemoth shines with an incredible luminosity of over 440,000 times that of our Sun, making it one of the most luminous red supergiants ever discovered. Stephenson 2-18 is part of the Stephenson 2 open star cluster, which contains an astonishing 26 red supergiants - the largest known concentration of these colossal stars in the Milky Way galaxy. If this titanic star were placed at the center of our solar system, its outer atmosphere would extend past the orbit of Saturn, utterly dwarfing our Sun.Astronomers are still working to fully understand the extreme properties and evolutionary state of this record-breaking celestial giant.