The Largest Star in the Universe – Size Comparison

The largest star known in the universe (as of now) is **Stephenson 2-18**, a red supergiant star. To grasp the immense scale of these colossal stars, let's break it down with a size comparison:

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### **Stephenson 2-18**
- **Radius:** Approximately **2,150 times the radius of the Sun**.
- **Size Perspective:**
- If Stephenson 2-18 were placed at the center of our Solar System, its outer surface would extend beyond the orbit of **Saturn**!

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### **How it Compares to Other Stars:**

1. **UY Scuti** (formerly thought to be the largest):
- **Radius:** About **1,700 times the Sun's radius**.
- If placed in our Solar System, it would engulf Jupiter’s orbit.

2. **Betelgeuse** (a well-known red supergiant in Orion):
- **Radius:** About **764 times the Sun's radius**.
- It would extend nearly to Mars’s orbit.

3. **The Sun**:
- A **G-type main-sequence star** with a radius of **1.39 million kilometers**.
- It seems minuscule compared to these giants!

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### **Visualization of Scale**
- The Sun, which is already enormous to us, would look like a tiny dot compared to Stephenson 2-18.
- Imagine Earth (with a diameter of 12,742 km) against Stephenson 2-18 — you could line up **over 10 billion Earths** across its diameter!

These giant stars challenge our sense of scale and remind us how vast and awe-inspiring the universe truly is. Would you like me to create a visual representation of this size comparison?