List of most luminous stars
Below is a list of stars arranged in order of decreasing luminosity (increasing bolometric magnitude). Accurate measurement of stellar luminosities is quite difficult in practice, even when the apparent magnitude is measured accurately, for four reasons:
- The distance d to the star must be known, to convert apparent to absolute magnitude. Absolute magnitude is the apparent magnitude a star would have if it were 10 parsecs away from the viewer. Since apparent brightness decreases as the square of the distance (i.e. as 1/d2), a small error (e.g. 10%) in determining d implies an error ~2× as large (thus 20%) in luminosity. Stellar distances are only directly measured accurately out to d ~1000 lt-yrs.
- The observed magnitudes must be corrected for the absorption or extinction of intervening interstellar or circumstellar dust and gas. This correction can be enormous and difficult to determine precisely. For example, until accurate infrared observations became possible ~50 years ago, the Galactic Center of the Milky Way was totally obscured to visual observations.
- The magnitudes at the wavelengths measured must be corrected for those not observed. "Absolute bolometric magnitude" (which term is redundant, practically speaking, since bolometric magnitudes are nearly always "absolute", i.e. corrected for distance) is a measure of the star's luminosity, summing over its emission at all wavelengths, and thus the total amount of energy radiated by a star every second. Bolometric magnitudes can only be estimated by correcting for unobserved portions of the spectrum that have to be modeled, which is always an issue, and often a large correction. The list is dominated by hot blue stars which produce the majority of their energy output in the ultraviolet, but these may not necessarily be the brightest stars at visual wavelengths.
- A large proportion of stellar systems discovered with very high luminosity have later been found to be binary. Usually this results in the total system luminosity being reduced and then that lower luminosity is spread among several components. These binaries are common both because the conditions that produce high mass high luminosity stars also favour multiple star systems, but also because searches for highly luminous stars are inevitably biased towards detecting systems with multiple more normal stars combining to appear luminous.
Because of all these problems, other references may give very different lists of the most luminous stars (different ordering or different stars altogether). Data on different stars can be of somewhat different reliability, depending on the attention one particular star has received as well as largely differing physical difficulties in analysis (see the Pistol Star for an example). The last stars in the list are familiar nearby stars put there for comparison, and not among the most luminous known. It may also interest the reader to know that the Sun is more luminous than approximately 95% of all known stars in the local neighborhood (out to, say, a few hundred light years), due to enormous numbers of somewhat less massive stars that are cooler and often much less luminous. For perspective, the overall range of stellar luminosities runs from dwarfs less than 1/10,000th as luminous as the Sun, to supergiants over 1,000,000 times more luminous.
Data
This list is currently limited mostly to galactic and Magellanic Cloud objects, but a few stars in other local group galaxies can now be examined in enough detail to determine the luminosities. As of mid-2012 the list is more or less complete for stars down to 1,000,000 times the luminosity of the Sun. Some suspected binaries in this magnitude range are excluded because there is insufficient information about the luminosity of the individual components. Selected fainter stars are also shown for comparison.
Despite their extreme luminosity, many of these stars are nevertheless too distant to be observed with the naked eye. Stars that are at least sometimes visible to the unaided eye have their apparent magnitude (6.5 or brighter) highlighted in blue.
Milky Way | |
---|---|
Large Magellanic Cloud | |
Small Magellanic Cloud | |
Andromeda Galaxy | |
Triangulum Galaxy | |
NGC 2366 |
Star name | Bolometric luminosity (in solar units) |
Absolute bolometric magnitude |
Approx. distance from solar system (in light years) |
Apparent visible magnitude |
Effective temperature (K) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
R136a1 (in LMC) | 710000 8 | −12.5 | 000 163 | 12.23 | 000±3000 53 |
Melnick 34 (BAT99-116 in LMC)[lower-alpha 1] | 079000 7 | −11.9[1] | 000 160 | 13.10 | 000 53 |
M33-013406.63 (in Triangulum Galaxy) | 400000– 6280000 10 | −12.2 to −12.7[2] | 380000– 2070000 3 | 16.1 | |
WR 25 (in Carina Nebula)[lower-alpha 2] | 300000 6 | −12.16[3] | 7500 | 8.80 | 100 / ? 50 |
NGC 2363-V1[lower-alpha 3] | 300000 6 | −12.16[4][5] | 100000 11 | 17.88 | 000– 13000 26 |
R136c (in LMC) | 623000 5 | −12.0 | 000 160 | 12.86 | 000 51 |
Eta Carinae (in Carina Nebula)[lower-alpha 4] | 000000 5 | −12.0[6] | 7500 | −0.8 to 7.9[7] | 200 37 |
BAT99-98 (AB12 in LMC) | 000000 5 | −12.0[8] | 000 165 | 13.70 | 000 45 |
G0.238-0.071 | 000000 5 | −12.0[9] | 000 26 | ||
HD 38282 (R144 in LMC)[lower-alpha 5] | 500000 4 | −11.9[10] | 000 160 | 11.11 | 000 47 |
R136a2 (in LMC) | 266000 4 | −11.7 | 000 160 | 12.34 | 000 53 |
V4998 Sagittarii (near Quintuplet Cluster) | 000000 4 | −11.7[11] | 000 25 | 000 12 | |
R136a3 (in LMC) | 802000 3 | −11.6 | 000 160 | 12.97 | 000 53 |
R136a6 (in LMC) | 311000 3 | −11.5 | 000 165 | 13.35 | |
G0.070+0.025 | 300000 3 | −11.5[9] | 000 26 | ||
Var A-1 (in M31) | 200000 3 | −11.5[12] | 450000 2 | 17.143[13] | 400– 20100 28[12] |
Peony Star (WR 102ka) | 200000 3 | −11.5 | 100 26 | 100 25 | |
VFTS 682 (in LMC) | 200000 3 | −11.5 | 000 160 | 16.1 | 210±2500 52 |
WR 42e | 200000 3 | −11.5[14][lower-alpha 6] | 000 25 | 14.53 | 652 43 |
BAT99-33 (R99 in LMC) | 200000 3 | −11.4[8] | 000 160 | 11.45 | 000 28 |
LSS 4067 | 000000 3 | −11.4[15] | 8200 | 11.64 | 800 32 |
NGC 3603-B | 900000 2 | −11.3[1] | 000 24 | 11.33 | 000 42 |
G0.059-0.068 | 880000 2 | −11.4[9] | 000 26 | ||
R136a4 (in LMC) | 884000 2 | −11.3 | 000 160 | 13.96 | 000±6000 51[1] |
WR 102hb | 600000 2 | −11.3[16] | 000 26 | 100 25 | |
AFGL 2298[lower-alpha 7] | 500000 2 | −11.25[4] | 000 33 | ||
Melnick 42 (in LMC) | 500000 2 | −11.25 | 000 160 | 12.8 | 300 47 |
WR 102ea | 500000 2 | −11.25[16] | 000 26 | 100 25 | |
WR 85 | 500000 2 | −11.25[3] | 300 15 | 10.03 | 100 50[3] |
BAT99-117 (R146 in LMC) | 500000 2 | −11.2[8] | 000 160 | 13.116 | |
NGC 3603-A1a | 500000 2 | −11.2[1] | 000 24 | 11.18 (combined A1a + A1b) | 000 42 |
LHO 146 | 500000 2 | −11.2 | 000 26 | 8.7 | ~000 35 |
Var 83 (in M33) | 240000 2 | −11.1[17] | 000000 3 | 16.40 | 000– 18000 37 |
WR 158 | 200000 2 | −11.1[3] | 000 26 | 11.24 | 700 44[3] |
Arches-F6 | 300000 2 | −11.1 | 000 25 | 900 33 | |
Arches-F9 | 300000 2 | −11.1 | 000 25 | 600 36 | |
HD 5980A[lower-alpha 8] (in SMC) | 200000 2 | −11.1[18] | 000 200 | 11.7 | 000– 21000 53 |
WR 24 (in Carina Nebula) | 200000 2 | −11.1[3] | 8200 | 6.48 | 100 50 |
HD 269810 (in LMC) | 200000 2 | −11.1[19] | 000 170 | 12.28 | 500 52 |
Cygnus OB2-516 | 200000 2 | −11.1 | 5000 | 11.84[20] | |
BAT99-96 (in LMC) | 200000 2 | −11.1[8] | 000 160 | 13.76 | |
G0.058+0.014 | 140000 2 | −11.1[9] | 000 26 | ||
R136a5 (in LMC) | 089000 2 | −11.0 | 000 165 | 13.71 | ~000 50[1] |
LBV 1806-20 | 000000 2 | −11.0 | 700 38 | 000– 18000 32 | |
Arches-F4 | 000000 2 | −11.0 | 000 25 | 800 36 | |
WR 82 | 000000 2 | −11.0[3] | 200 17 | 11.55 | 200 56[3] |
WR 131 | 000000 2 | −11.0[3] | 600 38 | 12.08 | 700 44[3] |
WR 147[lower-alpha 9] | 000000 2 | −11.0[3] | 2100 | 14.89 | 800 39[3] |
Arches-F7 | 000000 2 | −11.0 | 000 25 | 900 32 | |
Arches-F1 | 000000 2 | −11.0 | 000 25 | 200 33 | |
WR 22 A (V429 Carinae; in Carina Nebula) | 000000 2 | −11.0 | 8200 | 6.42 | 700 44 |
R136b (in LMC) | 995000 1 | −11.0 | 000 165 | 13.24 | 000 41 |
G0.114+0.021 | 950000 1 | −11.0[9] | 000 26 | ||
R136a8 (in LMC) | 905000 1 | −10.9 | 000 165 | 14.42 | 000 51[1] |
Cygnus OB2 #12 | 900000 1 | −10.9[21] | 5000 | 11.4 | 700 13 |
WR 31a | 820000 1 | −10.9 | 000 26 | 10.85 | 200 30 |
Wray 17-96 | 800000 1 | −10.9[22] | 000 15 | 17.8 | 000 13 |
V2180 Cygni (WR 130) | 800000 1 | −10.9[3] | 8800 | 12.14 | 700 44 |
HD 5980B (in SMC) | 800000 1 | −10.9[18] | 000 200 | 11.9 | 000 45 |
V4650 Sagittarii | 800000 1 | −10.9[23] | 000 25 | 300 11 | |
VFTS 506 (in LMC) | 750000 1 | −10.9[24] | 000 160 | 13.31 | 000 55[25] |
VFTS 16 (LMC) | 700000 1 | −10.8[24] | 000 160 | 13.55 | |
Cygnus OB2 #7 | 700000 1 | −10.8 | 5000 | 12.7 | |
BAT99-122 (R147 in LMC) | 700000 1 | −10.7[8] | 000 160 | 12.75 | |
Arches-F12 | 600000 1 | −10.8 | 000 25 | 900 36 | |
AF Andromedae (in M31) | 600000 1 | −10.8[17] | 500000 2 | 17.325[13] | 000 28 |
LHO 110 | 600000 1 | −10.8[16] | 000 26 | 100 25 | |
WR 12 (V378 Velorum) | 600000 1 | −10.75[3] | 500 16 | 10.78 | 700 44 |
Pistol Star | 600000 1 | −10.75 | 000 25 | 800 11 | |
WR 78 | 600000 1 | −10.75[3] | 6500 | 6.49 | 100 50 |
WR 89 | 600000 1 | −10.75[3] | 9400 | 11.02 | 800 39 |
WR 107 | 600000 1 | −10.75[3] | 400 13 | 14.1 | 100 50 |
WR 148 | 600000 1 | −10.75[3] | 100 27 | 10.3 | 800 39 |
HD 93129A (in Carina Nebula)[lower-alpha 10] | 500000 1 | −11.25 | 7500 | 7.310 | 500 42 |
WR 102i | 500000 1 | −10.7[16] | 000 26 | 600 31 | |
NGC 3603-A1b | 500000 1 | −10.6[1] | 000 24 | 11.18 (combined A1a + A1b) | 000 40 |
VFTS 621 (in LMC) | 400000 1 | −10.6[24] | 000 160 | 15.39 | 000 54[25] |
Arches-F15 | 400000 1 | −10.6 | 000 25 | 600 35 | |
LHO 100 | 400000 1 | −10.6 | 000 26 | 9.4 | 000 35 |
AB8A (in SMC) | 400000 1 | −10.6[18] | 000 200 | 12.9 (combined) | 000 141 |
V396 Carinae (WR 16) | 400000 1 | −10.6[3] | 7300[26] | 8.34 | 700±1000 41[27] |
WR 108 | 400000 1 | −10.6[3] | 300 18 | 9.89 | 800 39 |
WR 66 | 400000 1 | −10.6[3] | 700 10 | 11.34 | 700 44 |
Cygnus OB2-771 | 400000 1 | −10.6 | 5000 | ||
R126 (in LMC) | 400000 1 | −10.6 | 000 160 | 10.91 | 500 22 |
V729 Cygni A | 400000 1 | −10.6 | 5000 | ||
BAT99-100 (R134 in LMC) | 400000 1 | −10.5[8] | 000 160 | 12.02 | 000 47[8] |
Tr 27-27 | 350000 1 | −10.5[15] | 8200 | ||
WR 87 | 300000 1 | −10.5[3] | 9400 | 11.95 | 700 44 |
Arches-F3 | 300000 1 | −10.5 | 000 25 | 600 29 | |
Arches-F8 | 300000 1 | −10.5 | 000 25 | 900 32 | |
R139 A (in LMC) | 300000 1 | −10.5[28] | 000 160 | 12.0 (combined) | |
V729 Cygni B | 300000 1 | −10.5 | 5000 | ||
HD 50064 | 300000 1 | −10.5[29] | 9500 | 8.21 | 500 13 |
VFTS 259 (in LMC) | 250000 1 | −10.5[24] | 000 160 | 13.65 | |
WR 102d[16] | 200000 1 | −10.4 | 000 26 | 10.5 | 100 35 |
LHO 77 | 200000 1 | −10.4 | 000 26 | 9.6 | 000 35 |
AB7A | 200000 1 | −10.4 | 000 197 | 13.016 | 000 105 |
Arches-F28 | 200000 1 | −10.4 | 000 25 | 600 39 | |
G0.121-0.099 | 150000 1 | −10.4[9] | 000 26 | ||
BAT99-104 (in LMC) | 100000 1 | −10.4[8] | 000 160 | 12.5 | 000 63[8] |
V385 Carinae (WR 40; in Carina Nebula) | 100000 1 | −10.4[3] | 7400 | 7.85 | 000±1000 45[27] |
V1402 Aquilae (WR 123) | 100000 1 | −10.4[3] | 500 19 | 11.1 | 700 44 |
Arches-F18 | 100000 1 | −10.4 | 000 25 | ||
Cygnus OB2 #8B | 100000 1 | −10.4 | 5000 | 12.7 | 200 39 |
Cygnus OB2 #10 | 100000 1 | −10.4 | 5000 | 12.7 | |
Cygnus OB2 #22[lower-alpha 9] | 100000 1 | −10.4 | 5000 | 12.7 | |
Var B (in M33) | 100000 1 | −10.4[17] | 000000 3 | 16.208[13] | |
HD 93403A | 050000 1 | 000 10 | 7.3 | 300 39 | |
68 Cygni A | 050000 1 | −10.3[30] | 4600 | 4.98 to 5.09 | 000 34 |
HD 93250 (in Carina Nebula) | 038978 1 | −10.3[15] | 7500 | 7.50 | 000 46 |
BAT99-94 (R135 in LMC) | 000000 1 | −10.3[31] | 000 160 | 14.52 | 000 141[8] |
AG Carinae | 000000 1 | −10.3[32] | 6000 | 5.7 to 9.0 | – 8000000 26 |
HD 229059 | 000000 1 | −10.3[15] | 3200[33] | 8.70 | 300 26[15] |
Arches-F2 | 000000 1 | −10.25 | 000 25 | 500 33 | |
BAT99-68 (in LMC) | 000000 1 | −10.25[8] | 000 160 | 12.4 | 000 45[8] |
Arches-F14 | 000000 1 | −10.25 | 000 25 | 500 34 | |
V460 Scuti (WR 116) | 000000 1 | −10.25[3] | 8100 | 13.38 | 800 39 |
WR 124 (QR Sagittae) | 000000 1 | −10.25[3] | 000 11 | 11.5 | 900 35 |
S Doradus (in LMC) | 000000 1 | −10.25 | 000 169 | 8.6 to 11.5 (B) | – 8500000 35 |
The following naked-eye stars are listed for the purpose of comparison. | |||||
P Cygni | 000 610 | −9.7 | 5900 | 4.8 | 700 18 |
ζ Puppis | 000– 550000 800 | −9.0 | 1090 | 2.21 | 000– 40000 44 |
RW Cephei | 000 550 | −9.11 | 500 11 | 6.52 | 4015 |
ρ Cassiopeiae | 000 ~500 | −9.6 | 000 12 | 4.1 to 6.2 | – 5777 7200 |
Alnilam | 000– 389000 832 | −9.2 | 1300 | 1.70 | 000 27 |
μ Cephei (the Garnet Star) | 000 283 | −9.08 | 2840 | 4.04 | 3750 |
VY Canis Majoris | 000 ~270[34] | −9.4[35] | 3900 | 6.5 to 9.6 | ±90 3490 |
Plaskett's star A | 000 224 | −8.6 | 6600 | 6.06 (A + B) | 500±2000 33 |
θ1 Orionis C | 000 204 | −8.6 | 1500 | 5.13 | 000±1000 39 |
VV Cephei A | 000 200 | −9.0 | 4900 | 4.91 | 3826 |
Deneb | 000 196 | −8.38[36] | 2600 | 1.25 | ±75 8525 |
Betelgeuse | 000 126 | −8.00[37] | 643 | 0.58 | 3590 |
Rigel | 000 120 | −7.84 | 860 | 0.12 | 100±150 12 |
Antares | 000 97 | −7.2 | 600 | 0.92 | 3570 |
Canopus | 100 15 | −5.53 | 310 | −0.74 | 6998 |
Bellatrix | 9211 | −2.78 | 250 | 1.64 | 000 22 |
Polaris Aa | 1260 | −3.6 | 433 | 1.97 | 6015 |
Aldebaran | 518 | −0.63 | 65 | 0.85 | 3910 |
Arcturus | 170 | −0.31 | 37 | −0.04 | ±30 4286 |
Capella Aa | 78.7 | 0.4 | 42 | 0.08 | ±50 4970 |
Vega | 40.12 | 0.58 | 25 | 0.00 | ±180 9602 |
Sirius A | 25.4 | 1.4 | 8.6 | −1.46 | 9940 |
α Centauri A | 1.519 | 4.38 | 4.4 | −0.01 | 5790 |
Sun (Sol) | 1.00 | 4.83 | 0 | −26.74 | 5772 |
- ↑ Suspected as binary from extreme X-ray luminosity and variable radial velocity.
- ↑ 208-day binary
- ↑ Luminous Blue Variable in external galaxy NGC 2363, that appears to be undergoing a "great outburst" like Eta Carinae but less luminous.
- ↑ Identified as a binary system, or possibly three stars. The secondary is also luminous at around 1,000,000 times the Sun, but almost completely swamped by the primary.
- ↑ Binary system containing two luminous WNh stars.
- ↑ The paper mistakenly lists the blometric magnitude as −10.5 instead of −11.5.
- ↑ Luminous Blue Variable, peak luminosity shown.
- ↑ Variable, luminosity was five times higher at outburst in 1994.
- 1 2 This is a binary system but the secondary is much less luminous than the primary.
- ↑ This is a known binary with two fairly similar components, but the exact details of each star are not clear. Although the luminosity of the two combined is around 2,500,000, the primary is most likely nearer 1,500,000 and the secondary about 1,000,000.
Note that even the most luminous stars are much less luminous than the more luminous persistent extragalactic objects, such as quasars. For example, 3C 273 has an average apparent magnitude of 12.8 (when observing with a telescope), but an absolute magnitude of −26.7. If this object were 10 parsecs away from Earth it would appear nearly as bright in the sky as the Sun (apparent magnitude −26.74). This quasar's luminosity is, therefore, about 2 trillion (1012) times that of the Sun, or about 100 times that of the total light of average large galaxies like our Milky Way. (Note that quasars often vary somewhat in luminosity.)
In terms of gamma rays, a magnetar (type of neutron star) called SGR 1806-20, had an extreme burst reach Earth on 27 December 2004. It was the brightest event known to have impacted this planet from an origin outside the Solar System; if these gamma rays were visible, with an absolute magnitude of approx. −29, it would be brighter than the Sun (as measured by the Swift spacecraft).
The Gamma-ray burst GRB 971214 measured in 1998 was at the time thought to be the most energetic event in the observable universe, with the equivalent energy of several hundred supernovae. Later studies pointed out that the energy was probably the energy of one supernova which had been "beamed" towards Earth by the geometry of a relativistic jet.
See also
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Crowther, P. A.; Schnurr, O.; Hirschi, R.; Yusof, N.; Parker, R. J.; Goodwin, S. P.; Kassim, H. A. (2010). "The R136 star cluster hosts several stars whose individual masses greatly exceed the accepted 150 M⊙ stellar mass limit". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 408 (2): 731–751. arXiv:1007.3284. Bibcode:2010MNRAS.408..731C. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.17167.x.
- ↑ Humphreys, R. M.; Weis, K.; Davidson, K.; Bomans, D. J.; Burggraf, B. (2014). "Luminous and Variable Stars in M31 and M33. II. Luminous Blue Variables, Candidate LBVs, Fe II Emission Line Stars, and Other Supergiants". The Astrophysical Journal. 790: 48. arXiv:1407.2259. Bibcode:2014ApJ...790...48H. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/790/1/48.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Hamann, W. -R.; Gräfener, G.; Liermann, A. (2006). "The Galactic WN stars". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 457 (3): 1015–1031. arXiv:astro-ph/0608078. Bibcode:2006A&A...457.1015H. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20065052.
- 1 2 Clark, J. S.; Crowther, P. A.; Larionov, V. M.; Steele, I. A.; Ritchie, B. W.; Arkharov, A. A. (2009). "Bolometric luminosity variations in the luminous blue variable AFGL2298". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 507 (3): 1555–1565. arXiv:0909.4160. Bibcode:2009A&A...507.1555C. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/200912358.
- ↑ Petit, V. R.; Drissen, L.; Crowther, P. A. (2006). "Spectral Evolution of the Luminous Blue Variable NGC 2363-V1. I. Observations and Qualitative Analysis of the Ongoing Giant Eruption". The Astronomical Journal. 132 (5): 1756–1762. Bibcode:2006AJ....132.1756P. doi:10.1086/506512.
- ↑ Humphreys, R. M. (2005). "η Carinae – The Observational Story, 1600 to 2004". ASP Conference Series. 332: 14–21. Bibcode:2005ASPC..332...14H.
- ↑ "Query= Eta Car". General Catalogue of Variable Stars. Sternberg Astronomical Institute. Retrieved 2010-11-24.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Hainich, R.; Rühling, U.; Todt, H.; Oskinova, L. M.; Liermann, A.; Gräfener, G.; Foellmi, C.; Schnurr, O.; Hamann, W. -R. (2014). "The Wolf-Rayet stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 565: A27. arXiv:1401.5474. Bibcode:2014A&A...565A..27H. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201322696.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Mauerhan, J. C.; Cotera, A.; Dong, H.; Morris, M. R.; Wang, Q. D.; Stolovy, S. R.; Lang, C. (2010). "Isolated Wolf-Rayet Stars and O Supergiants in the Galactic Center Region Identified Via Paschen-α Excess". The Astrophysical Journal. 725: 188–199. arXiv:1009.2769. Bibcode:2010ApJ...725..188M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/725/1/188.
- ↑ Sana, H.; Van Boeckel, T.; Tramper, F.; Ellerbroek, L. E.; De Koter, A.; Kaper, L.; Moffat, A. F. J.; Schnurr, O.; Schneider, F. R. N.; Gies, D. R. (2013). "R144 revealed as a double-lined spectroscopic binary". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters. 432: 26. arXiv:1304.4591. Bibcode:2013MNRAS.432L..26S. doi:10.1093/mnrasl/slt029.
- ↑ Mauerhan, J. C.; Morris, M. R.; Cotera, A.; Dong, H.; Wang, Q. D.; Stolovy, S. R.; Lang, C.; Glass, I. S. (2010). "Discovery of a Luminous Blue Variable with an Ejection Nebula Near the Quintuplet Cluster". The Astrophysical Journal. 713: L33. arXiv:1002.3379. Bibcode:2010ApJ...713L..33M. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/713/1/L33.
- 1 2 Sholukhova, O.; Bizyaev, D.; Fabrika, S.; Sarkisyan, A.; Malanushenko, V.; Valeev, A. (2014). "New Luminous Blue Variables in the Andromeda galaxy". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 447 (3): 2459–2467. arXiv:1412.5319v1. Bibcode:2015MNRAS.447.2459S. doi:10.1093/mnras/stu2597.
- 1 2 3 Massey, Philip; Olsen, K. A. G; Hodge, Paul W; Strong, Shay B; Jacoby, George H; Schlingman, Wayne; Smith, R. C (2006). "A Survey of Local Group Galaxies Currently Forming Stars. I. UBVRI Photometry of Stars in M31 and M33". The Astronomical Journal. 131 (5): 2478. arXiv:astro-ph/0602128. Bibcode:2006AJ....131.2478M. doi:10.1086/503256.
- ↑ Roman-Lopes, A. (2012). "A Galactic O2 If*/WN6 star possibly ejected from its birthplace in NGC 3603". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letters. 427 (1): L65–L69. arXiv:1209.1598. Bibcode:2012MNRAS.427L..65R. doi:10.1111/j.1745-3933.2012.01346.x.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Massey, P.; Degioia-Eastwood, K.; Waterhouse, E. (2001). "The Progenitor Masses of Wolf-Rayet Stars and Luminous Blue Variables Determined from Cluster Turnoffs. II. Results from 12 Galactic Clusters and OB Associations". The Astronomical Journal. 121 (2): 1050–1070. arXiv:astro-ph/0010654. Bibcode:2001AJ....121.1050M. doi:10.1086/318769.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Liermann, A.; Hamann, W. -R.; Oskinova, L. M.; Todt, H.; Butler, K. (2010). "The Quintuplet cluster". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 524: A82. arXiv:1011.5796. Bibcode:2010A&A...524A..82L. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/200912612.
- 1 2 3 Szeifert, T.; Humphreys, R. M.; Davidson, K.; Jones, T. J.; Stahl, O.; Wolf, B.; Zickgraf, F.-J. (1996). "HST and groundbased observations of the 'Hubble-Sandage' variables in M 31 and M 33". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 314: 131–145. Bibcode:1996A&A...314..131S.
- 1 2 3 Shenar, T.; Hainich, R.; Todt, H.; Sander, A.; Hamann, W.-R.; Moffat, A. F. J.; Eldridge, J. J.; Pablo, H.; Oskinova, L. M.; Richardson, N. D. (2016). "Wolf-Rayet stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud: II. Analysis of the binaries". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 1604: A22. arXiv:1604.01022. Bibcode:2016A&A...591A..22S. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201527916.
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