Westerlund 1 W26

Westerlund 1 W26 (commonly abbreviated to W26) or Westerlund 1 BKS AS is a red supergiant located at the outskirts of the Westerlund 1 super star cluster. It is one of the largest known stars and the most luminous supergiant stars discovered so far with radius calculated to be in excess of a thousand times the solar radius, and a luminosity of over 200,000 times the solar luminosity. If placed at the center of the Solar System, its photosphere would engulf the orbit of Jupiter.

Westerlund 1 W26

Westerlund 1 with the inset showing W26 and the associated ionised hydrogen cloud
Credit: ESO
Observation data
Epoch J2000      Equinox J2000
Constellation Ara
Right ascension 16h 47m 05.403s
Declination −45° 50 36.76
Apparent magnitude (V) 17.194
Characteristics
Spectral type M0.5–M6 (M2-M6Ia)
Apparent magnitude (B) 22.1
Apparent magnitude (J) 4.31
Apparent magnitude (H) 1.35
Apparent magnitude (K) 1.9
B−V color index +4.906
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)-49.42 km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: -1.841 mas/yr
Dec.: -3.909 mas/yr
Parallax (π)0.0534 ± 0.0917 mas
Distance14,200 ly
(4,350 pc)
Details
Radius1,145–1,240 R
Luminosity276,000±10,000 L
Temperature3,782±14 K
Age7.9 Myr
Other designations
Westerlund 1 W26, W1–26, 2MASS J16470540-4550367, Westerlund 1 BKS AS, Westerlund 1 BKS A, Gaia EDR3 5940106041452150272
Database references
SIMBADdata
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