List of nearest hypergiants

This is a list of the nearest hypergiant stars to Earth, located at a distance of up to 10,000 light-years (3,100 parsecs) from Earth.

While hypergiants are typically defined as stars with luminosity classes 0, Ia-0 or Ia+, other definitions exist, such as those based on stellar evolution. Therefore, stars with other luminosity classes can sometimes be considered hypergiants.

List

Name	Distance (ly)	Spectral type	Stellar radius (R_☉)	Stellar mass (`M`_☉)	Stellar luminosity (`L`_☉)	Apparent magnitude (V)	Notes and References
Mu Cephei	2090 – 3060¹²	M2-Ia (M2e Ia or M2 Ia+)³	1450⁴⁵⁶	25⁷	269000+111000 −40000	4.08
VV Cephei A	3319 – 4900	M2 Iab (M1p 0)	1050	2.5 or 18.2	72880±16300	4.91	⁸
VY Canis Majoris	3820+260 −230	M3-M4.5 (M2.5-M5Iae)	1420±120	17±8	270000±40000	6.5-9.6	⁹¹⁰
HD 183143 (HT Sagittae)	4990±550	B6-8 Ia-0	109±15	24.2±1.4	288000+83000 −65000	6.71-6.95
HD 168625 (V4030 Sagittarii)	5000±200	B6Ia+ (B2-B8)	105		380000	8.30-8.41
HD 168607 (V4029 Sagittarii)	5100±500	B9Ia+	187		240000	8.12-8.29
NML Cygni	5250+420 −360	M4.5–M7.9 Ia–III	2000¹¹	25	229000+40000 −41000, 270000±50000	16.60
P Cygni	5300±590	B1-2Ia-0ep (B1 lapeq)	76	37	610000	4.82
Cygnus OB2-12	5300±590	B3-4Ia+	264	110	1660000	11.702
V915 Scorpii	5600+570 −370	K0Ia-0	685.6	14.7	74100 – 185200	6.22 - 6.64
Zeta¹ Scorpii	6000	B1.5Ia+	103 – 125.5	36 – 53	850000	4.705	¹²¹³
V382 Carinae	6000	G0-4-Ia+	485 ± 56	24±5.1	212000±12300	3.83
V602 Carinae	7000	M3 Ia-Iab	1015	17.7 – 20	126000	8.39
S Persei	7900±300	M3 Iae–M7	1298+64 −57	20	123000 – 186000	9.23
6 Cassiopeiae	8000	A2.5Ia+	193	22.0	200000	5.34-5.45
Rho Cassiopeiae	8150±1630	G2 0 (F8pIa-K0pIa-0)	700	40	300000 – 530000	4.1 to 6.2	¹⁴
BP Crucis	9915.154	B1 Ia+	70	43	470000	10.83	¹⁵

Notes

References

Montargès, M; Homan, W; Keller, D; Clementel, N; Shetye, S; Decin, L; Harper, G M; Royer, P; Winters, J M; Le Bertre, T; Richards, A M S (2019-05-11). "NOEMA maps the CO J = 2 − 1 environment of the red supergiant $\mu$ Cep★". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 485 (2): 2417–2430. doi:10.1093/mnras/stz397. ISSN 0035-8711.
Davies, Ben; Beasor, Emma R (2020-03-21). "The 'red supergiant problem': the upper luminosity boundary of Type II supernova progenitors". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 493 (1): 468–476. doi:10.1093/mnras/staa174. ISSN 0035-8711.
Garrison, R. F.; Kormendy, J. (December 1976). "Some characteristics of the young open cluster Trumpler 37". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 88: 865. Bibcode:1976PASP...88..865G. doi:10.1086/130037. ISSN 0004-6280.
"Garnet Star". stars.astro.illinois.edu. Archived from the original on 2025-03-15. Retrieved 2026-02-15.
Josselin, E.; Plez, B. (July 2007). "Atmospheric dynamics and the mass loss process in red supergiant stars". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 469 (2): 671–680. arXiv:0705.0266. Bibcode:2007A&A...469..671J. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20066353. ISSN 0004-6361.
Levesque, Emily M.; Massey, Philip; Olsen, K. A. G.; Plez, Bertrand; Josselin, Eric; Maeder, Andre; Meynet, Georges (August 2005). "The Effective Temperature Scale of Galactic Red Supergiants: Cool, but Not as Cool as We Thought". The Astrophysical Journal. 628 (2): 973–985. arXiv:astro-ph/0504337. Bibcode:2005ApJ...628..973L. doi:10.1086/430901. ISSN 0004-637X.
López Ariste, A.; Wavasseur, M.; Mathias, Ph.; Lèbre, A.; Tessore, B.; Georgiev, S. (February 2023). "The height of convective plumes in the red supergiant μ Cep". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 670: A62. arXiv:2301.01326. Bibcode:2023A&A...670A..62L. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202244285. ISSN 0004-6361.
Rodriguez, Joseph E.; Stassun, Keivan G.; Lund, Michael B.; Siverd, Robert J.; Pepper, Joshua; Tang, Sumin; Kafka, Stella; Gaudi, B. Scott; Conroy, Kyle E.; Beatty, Thomas G.; Stevens, Daniel J.; Shappee, Benjamin J. (May 2016). "An extreme analogue of ε Aurigae: an M-giant eclipsed every 69 years by a large opaque disk surrounding a small hot source". The Astronomical Journal. 151 (5): 123. arXiv:1601.00135. Bibcode:2016AJ....151..123R. doi:10.3847/0004-6256/151/5/123. S2CID 24349954.
Massey, Philip; Levesque, Emily M.; Plez, Bertrand (2006-08-01). "Bringing VY Canis Majoris down to size: an improved determination of its effective temperature". The Astrophysical Journal. 646 (2): 1203–1208. arXiv:astro-ph/0604253. Bibcode:2006ApJ...646.1203M. doi:10.1086/505025. S2CID 14314968.
Humphreys, Roberta M. (2006). "VY Canis Majoris: The Astrophysical Basis of Its Luminosity". Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society. 38: 1047. arXiv:astro-ph/0610433. Bibcode:2006AAS...20910109G.
Lacki, Brian C.; Brzycki, Bryan; Croft, Steve; Czech, Daniel; DeBoer, David; DeMarines, Julia; Gajjar, Vishal; Isaacson, Howard; Lebofsky, Matt; MacMahon, David H. E.; Price, Danny C.; Sheikh, Sofia Z.; Siemion, Andrew P. V.; Drew, Jamie; Worden, S. Pete (2021-12-01). "One of Everything: The Breakthrough Listen Exotica Catalog". The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 257 (2): 42. doi:10.3847/1538-4365/ac168a. ISSN 0067-0049.
"* zet01 Sco". SIMBAD. Retrieved 2025-03-01.
Clark, J. S.; Najarro, F.; Negueruela, I.; Ritchie, B. W.; Urbaneja, M. A.; Howarth, I. D. (2012-02-17), On the nature of the galactic early-B hypergiants, arXiv, doi:10.48550/arXiv.1202.3991, arXiv:1202.3991, retrieved 2026-04-04
"* rho Cas". SIMBAD. Retrieved 2025-03-01.
"V* BP Crucis". SIMBAD. Retrieved 2025-03-01.

External links

Samus NN, Kazarovets EV, Durlevich OV, Kireeva NN, Pastukhova EN (2017). "General Catalogue of Variable Stars: Version GCVS 5.1". Astronomy Reports. 61 (1): 80–88. Bibcode:2017ARep...61...80S. doi:10.1134/S1063772917010085. ISSN 1063-7729. S2CID 255195566.

[:0-1] Montargès, M; Homan, W; Keller, D; Clementel, N; Shetye, S; Decin, L; Harper, G M; Royer, P; Winters, J M; Le Bertre, T; Richards, A M S (2019-05-11). "NOEMA maps the CO J = 2 − 1 environment of the red supergiant $\mu$ Cep★". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 485 (2): 2417–2430. doi:10.1093/mnras/stz397. ISSN 0035-8711.

[2] Davies, Ben; Beasor, Emma R (2020-03-21). "The 'red supergiant problem': the upper luminosity boundary of Type II supernova progenitors". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 493 (1): 468–476. doi:10.1093/mnras/staa174. ISSN 0035-8711.

[3] Garrison, R. F.; Kormendy, J. (December 1976). "Some characteristics of the young open cluster Trumpler 37". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 88: 865. Bibcode:1976PASP...88..865G. doi:10.1086/130037. ISSN 0004-6280.

[4] "Garnet Star". stars.astro.illinois.edu. Archived from the original on 2025-03-15. Retrieved 2026-02-15.

[5] Josselin, E.; Plez, B. (July 2007). "Atmospheric dynamics and the mass loss process in red supergiant stars". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 469 (2): 671–680. arXiv:0705.0266. Bibcode:2007A&A...469..671J. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20066353. ISSN 0004-6361.

[6] Levesque, Emily M.; Massey, Philip; Olsen, K. A. G.; Plez, Bertrand; Josselin, Eric; Maeder, Andre; Meynet, Georges (August 2005). "The Effective Temperature Scale of Galactic Red Supergiants: Cool, but Not as Cool as We Thought". The Astrophysical Journal. 628 (2): 973–985. arXiv:astro-ph/0504337. Bibcode:2005ApJ...628..973L. doi:10.1086/430901. ISSN 0004-637X.

[7] López Ariste, A.; Wavasseur, M.; Mathias, Ph.; Lèbre, A.; Tessore, B.; Georgiev, S. (February 2023). "The height of convective plumes in the red supergiant μ Cep". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 670: A62. arXiv:2301.01326. Bibcode:2023A&A...670A..62L. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202244285. ISSN 0004-6361.

[Rodriguez-8] Rodriguez, Joseph E.; Stassun, Keivan G.; Lund, Michael B.; Siverd, Robert J.; Pepper, Joshua; Tang, Sumin; Kafka, Stella; Gaudi, B. Scott; Conroy, Kyle E.; Beatty, Thomas G.; Stevens, Daniel J.; Shappee, Benjamin J. (May 2016). "An extreme analogue of ε Aurigae: an M-giant eclipsed every 69 years by a large opaque disk surrounding a small hot source". The Astronomical Journal. 151 (5): 123. arXiv:1601.00135. Bibcode:2016AJ....151..123R. doi:10.3847/0004-6256/151/5/123. S2CID 24349954.

[massey2006-9] Massey, Philip; Levesque, Emily M.; Plez, Bertrand (2006-08-01). "Bringing VY Canis Majoris down to size: an improved determination of its effective temperature". The Astrophysical Journal. 646 (2): 1203–1208. arXiv:astro-ph/0604253. Bibcode:2006ApJ...646.1203M. doi:10.1086/505025. S2CID 14314968.

[humphreys-10] Humphreys, Roberta M. (2006). "VY Canis Majoris: The Astrophysical Basis of Its Luminosity". Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society. 38: 1047. arXiv:astro-ph/0610433. Bibcode:2006AAS...20910109G.

[11] Lacki, Brian C.; Brzycki, Bryan; Croft, Steve; Czech, Daniel; DeBoer, David; DeMarines, Julia; Gajjar, Vishal; Isaacson, Howard; Lebofsky, Matt; MacMahon, David H. E.; Price, Danny C.; Sheikh, Sofia Z.; Siemion, Andrew P. V.; Drew, Jamie; Worden, S. Pete (2021-12-01). "One of Everything: The Breakthrough Listen Exotica Catalog". The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 257 (2): 42. doi:10.3847/1538-4365/ac168a. ISSN 0067-0049.

[12] "* zet01 Sco". SIMBAD. Retrieved 2025-03-01.

[13] Clark, J. S.; Najarro, F.; Negueruela, I.; Ritchie, B. W.; Urbaneja, M. A.; Howarth, I. D. (2012-02-17), On the nature of the galactic early-B hypergiants, arXiv, doi:10.48550/arXiv.1202.3991, arXiv:1202.3991, retrieved 2026-04-04

[14] "* rho Cas". SIMBAD. Retrieved 2025-03-01.

[15] "V* BP Crucis". SIMBAD. Retrieved 2025-03-01.

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See also

References

External links