Star bigger than the Sun’s radius! Check out the biggest star in the universe

The biggest star in the universe has a 1,700 times larger radius than the Sun. Check out what’s the name of the star.

UY Scuti is the biggest star in the universe, much larger than our Sun. Know more about the star here. (NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pon via AP)

Our universe contains uncountable stars, ranging from small ones similar to Saturn or big giants that can fit a number of Suns into themselves. Some are not even discovered yet or some have deep mysteries that even scientists have not been able to explain away. The mysteries of space can be interesting to learn, but they are also scary. However, if we talk about the smallest and the biggest star in the universe, you'll be amazed that it is a star named UY Scuti. The largest star in our universe is a hypergiant whose radius is 1,700 times larger than our Sun. Shocking right?

Let's explore more about UY Scuti to know its size and where it resides in the universe.

About UY Scuti

According to the Nine Planets report, UY Scuti is known to be the largest star in the universe with an estimated radius of 1.188 billion kilometres which is 1700 times larger than the Sun. This star is known as a red hypergiant due to its enormous mass and luminosity. Additionally, it is estimated that UY Scuti's temperature is around 3,365 K.

As per Space.com report, the star is located near the centre of the Milky Way and is 9,500 light-years away from Earth. UY Scuti is located within the constellation Scutum. Such stars are called hypergiants because they are bigger than giants and supergiants, and they are very bright in comparison to other giant stars.

UY Scuti was first catalogued by German astronomers at the Bonn Observatory in 1860. During the time it was named BD -12 5055.

Scientists believe that this star grows to be bright and dimmer at the same time in 740 days period. It also losses its mass due to fast-moving stellar winds.

"The complication with stars is that they have diffuse edges. Most stars don't have a rigid surface where the gas ends and vacuum begins, which would have served as a harsh dividing line and easy marker of the end of the star." astronomer Jillian Scudder of the University of Sussex wrote for The Conversation.