NML Cygni

NML Cygni is a red hypergiant, placing it among the largest and most luminous stars ever discovered in our galaxy. It is currently undergoing intense mass loss as it approaches the end of its short, chaotic life.

The star's radius is estimated to exceed 1,600 times that of our Sun, meaning it would easily swallow the orbit of Jupiter if placed in our solar system. This sheer scale makes it one of the physically largest stars known to modern astronomy.

This massive star is located in the constellation Cygnus, situated roughly 5,300 light-years away from Earth. Despite its immense size, it is obscured by thick clouds of cosmic dust and cannot be seen without a telescope.

The star's initials honor its discoverers, a team of astronomers named Neugebauer, Martz, and Leighton. They first identified the extremely bright infrared source in 1965 using telescopes at the Mount Wilson Observatory.