Cosmic Scale
Westerlund 1-26
Red supergiant · About 12,700 light-years
How big is Westerlund 1-26?
Westerlund 1-26 is about 1.7 × 10⁹ km across.
See Westerlund 1-26 in 3D, at true scale
Westerlund 1-26 is a red supergiant in Westerlund 1, the most massive young star cluster in the Milky Way. Dust hides the cluster from ordinary telescopes, but in infrared it is a swarm of giant stars.
At a glance
| Diameter | 1.7 × 10⁹ km |
|---|---|
| Diameter compared with Earth | 131,000 × Earth |
| Distance | About 12,700 light-years |
| Radius | Around 1,200 Suns |
| Cluster | Westerlund 1 |
| Type | Red supergiant |
Good to know
- It is surrounded by a glowing cloud of gas lit by the hot stars around it.
- Earlier estimates made it over 1,500 Suns wide; newer ones are smaller.
- Westerlund 1 may hold more than 100,000 times the Sun's mass in stars.