Defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a light-year is the distance that light travels in a space in one year. 1 light year = 6 trillion miles (10 trillion km)
Betelgeuse, the red supergiant.
One of my 'favourite stars' to shoot when I was at sea long time ago - I will blog about it some other time! And also one of the most popular stars in the skies.
Currently measured to be 640 lights years away from Earth, in the 'Red supergiant' class, Betelgeuse.
'Red', because its old (by astronomical standards) and cooler than 'Blue' stars, hence blue stars are hotter.
Comparison between Betelgeuse and our Sun.
Our Sun is only 1 pixel compared to Betelgeuse in the above illustration. Look at the 'arrow' underneath Betelgeuse.
Its position in 'Orion'.
What is Big?
If Betelgeuse is as big as Wembley Stadium, then our Sun is just a 'small pebble' on the field!
If you fit Betelgeuse in the middle of our Solar system, then its diameter is as big as from the Sun all the way past the asteroid belt, possibly till Jupiter's orbit!
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