List of most luminous stars

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Below is a list of stars arranged in order of increasing absolute bolometric magnitude (decreasing luminosity). Absolute magnitude is the apparent magnitude a star would have if it were 10 parsecs away from us. Absolute bolometric magnitude is a measure of the star's luminosity – the total amount of energy radiated by a star every second.

This list cannot be complete because if a star is far enough away we will not be able to see it, no matter how high its luminosity is. Some other references give very different lists of the most luminous stars (different ordering or different stars altogether). Data on different stars can be of somewhat different reliability, depending on the attention one particular star has received as well as largely differing physical difficulties in analysis (see Pistol Star for an example). The last set of stars on the list are there for comparison (they are not among the most luminous known).

Star name Apparent Visible Magnitude Absolute Bolometric Magnitude Luminosity in Solar Units
LBV 1806-20 (High Model) 8.4 −14.2 38,000,000 [1]
Cygnus OB2-12   −12.2 6,000,000
HD 93129A 6.97 −12.1 5,500,000
Eta Carinae 3.9 to 10.5 −12.1 5,500,000
LBV 1806-20 (Middle Model) 8.6 −12.0 5,000,000 [2]
QPM-241   −11.9 4,500,000
R136a1(in LMC)   −11.9 4,500,000
HDE 319718   −11.8 4,200,000
HD 5980   −11.5 3,000,000
HDE 269810   −11.1 2,200,000[3]
Var 83 (in M33)   −11.1 2,200,000[4]
Wray 17-96   −10.9 1,800,000[5]
The Pistol Star   −10.8 1,700,000
AF And (in M31)   −10.8 1,600,000[6]
Var B (in M33)   −10.4 1,100,000[7]
AG Carinae 7.1 to 9.0 −10.3 1,000,000[8]
S Doradus 8.6 to 11.8 −10.1 870,000
Zeta Puppis 2.21 −10 790,000
Var C (in M33)   −9.8 660,000[9]
Rho Cassiopeiae 4.4 −9.6 550,000
HR Carinae   −9.5 500,000[10]
AE And (in M31)   −9.4 450,000[11]
VY Canis Majoris 7.95 −9.4 450,000[12]
Chi2 Orionis 4.65 −9.3 420,000
HDE 226868 8.9 −9.25 390,000
Alnilam 1.70 −9.2 380,000
KW Sagitarii   −9.17 370,000
V354 Cephei   −9.15 360,000
Mu Cephei 4.04 −9.08 340,000
VV Cephei A   −9.0 315,000
KY Cygni   −8.84 270,000
Deneb 1.25 −8.73 250,000
Theta1 Orionis C 5.13 −8.6 220,000
Alnitak 1.79 −7.8 100,000
VV Cephei B   −7.8 100,000
Mintaka 2.23 −7.6 87,000
Eta Canis Majoris 2.45 −7.51 80,000
Rigel 0.12 −7.3 66,000
Saiph 2.07 −7.3 66,000
Meissa 3.39 −7.3 66,000
Omicron1 Canis Majoris 3.83 −7.3 66,000
Betelgeuse 0.58 −7.2 60,000
Antares 0.92 −7.2 60,000
Psi1 Aurigae 4.92 −6.95 47,000
Delta Canis Majoris 1.83 −6.87 44,000
Sigma Orionis A 4.2 −6.6 35,000
Beta Crucis 1.25 −6.6 35,000
Eta Orionis 3.38 −6.5 32,000
Omicron2 Canis Majoris 3.02 −6.46 30,000
Alpha Crucis 0.76 −6.25 25,000
Gamma Cygni 2.23 −6.12 22,000
Alpha Herculis 3.48 −5.97 19,400
Epsilon Aurigae 3.04 −5.95 19,000
Pi4 Orionis 3.67 −5.8 17,000
Iota1 Scorpii 2.99 −5.71 15,000
Eta Leonis 3.48 −5.60 14,000
Spica 1.00 −5.6 14,000
Upsilon Carinae 2.92 −5.56 13,300
Canopus −0.62 −5.53 12,900
Iota Orionis 2.77 −5.5 12,600
Beta Centauri 0.61 −5.42 11,700
Alpha Leporis 2.58 −5.40 11,500
Phi Velorum 3.52 −5.34 10,900
Gamma Velorum 1.75 −5.31 10,600
VV Orionis 5.34 −5.2 9,600
Lambda Scorpii 1.62 −5.05 8,400
Pi Puppis 2.71 −4.92 7,400
Epsilon Pegasi 2.38 −4.8 6,600
Epsilon Canis Majoris 1.50 −4.8 6,600
Bellatrix 1.64 −4.75 6,300
Xi Puppis 3.34 −4.74 6,250
Epsilon Carinae 1.86 −4.58 5,400
W Orionis 5.88 −4.4 4,600
Achernar 0.46 −4.05 3,300[13]
Beta Lyrae 3.52 −3.91 2,900
Polaris 1.97 −3.6 2,200
Gamma Crucis 1.63 −3.2 1,500
Regulus 1.35 −1.6 350[14]
Aldebaran 0.85 −0.63 140
Arcturus −0.04 −0.31 110
Capella 0.08 0.4 55
Castor 1.98 0.5 50
Vega 0.00 0.58 47
Pollux 1.14 0.7 42
Sirius −1.46 1.4 22
HD 38529 5.94 2.7 6.6
Tabit 3.19 3.7 2.6
Alpha Centauri A −0.01 4.38 1.4
Chi1 Orionis 4.41 4.7 1.05
Sun −26.8 4.75 1.00

Note that even the most luminous star (40 million times the luminosity of the Sun) is much less luminous than extragalactic objects like quasars, of which several hundred are currently known. The brightest quasar currently known is the ultraluminous 3C 273 in the constellation of Virgo. It has an average apparent magnitude of 12.8 (when observing with a telescope), but an absolute magnitude of −26.7. If this object were 10 parsecs away it would appear nearly as bright in the sky as our sun (apparent magnitude −26.8). This quasar's luminosity is, therefore, about 2 trillion (1012) times that of our sun, or about 100 times that of the total light of average giant galaxies like our Milky Way. Quasars are however also found to vary in luminosity in differing time periods.

In terms of gamma rays, a magnetar (type of neutron star) called SGR 1806-20, had an extreme burst reach Earth on 27 December 2004. It was the brightest event known to have impacted this planet from an origin outside our solar system; if these gamma rays were visible, with an absolute magnitude of approx. −29, it would be brighter than our sun (as measured by the Swift spacecraft).

The Gamma-ray burst GRB_971214 measured in 1998 was at the time thought to be the most energetic event in the universe, with the equivalent energy of several hundred supernovae. Later studies pointed out that the energy was probably the energy of one supernova which had been "beamed" towards Earth by the geometry of the surrounding gas.

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