List of star extremes

A star is a massive luminous spheroid astronomical object made of plasma that is held together by its own gravity. Stars exhibit great diversity in their properties (such as mass, volume, velocity, stage in stellar evolution, and distance from Earth) and some of the outliers are so disproportionate in comparison with the general population that they are considered extreme. This is a list of such stars.

Records that are regarded as authoritative and unlikely to change at any given point are recorded on a white background, while those that could change with new information and/or discoveries are recorded on a grey background.

Age and distance

Title	Object	Date	Data	Comments	Notes	Refs	See more
Nearest star	Sun	3rd century BC	1 AU	Our local star's distance was first determined in the 3rd century BC by Aristarchus of Samos.	Reported for reference
Second-nearest star	Proxima Centauri	1915	1.30 pc	Also called Alpha Centauri C, it is the outlying star in a trinary star system that includes Alpha Centauri A (Rigil Kentaurus) and Alpha Centauri B (Toliman). This is currently the nearest known neighbouring star to our own Sun. This star was discovered in 1915, and its parallax was determined at the time, when enough observations were established.	^{[NB 1]}	^[1]^[2]	List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs
Most distant individually seen star	WHL0137-LS (Earendel)	2022	z= 6.2 ± 0.1 12.9 Gly			^[3]^[4]	List of the most distant astronomical objects
Most distant star	Stars in HD1	2022	z= 13.27 13.5 Gly (light travel distance) 33.4 Gly (proper distance)			^[5]	List of the most distant astronomical objects
Most distant star gravitationally bound to Milky Way galaxy	ULAS J0015+01	2014	900,000 light-years	Located in the Milky Way's extreme outer halo, far beyond the galactic disc.		^[6]
Oldest star	HD 140283	before 1912	14.5±0.8 billion years	Commonly nicknamed Methuselah as a result of its extreme age, this subgiant star demonstrates a slight blueshift, indicating that it is moving in a direction towards the Earth.		^[7]	List of oldest stars
Youngest	Stars are being formed constantly in the universe so it is impossible to tell which star is the youngest. For information on the properties of newly formed stars, see Protostar, Young stellar object and Star formation.

Nearest stars by type
Title	Object	Date	Data	Comments	Notes	Refs	See more
Nearest sun-like star	Alpha Centauri A & B	1839	1.34 parsecs (4.4 ly)	This was the third star whose parallax was determined. Before Alpha Centauri, the record was held by 61 Cygni, the first star whose parallax was determined.	^{[NB 1]}^{[NB 2]}^{[NB 3]}
Nearest normal star	Alpha Centauri C (Proxima Centauri)	1915	1.30 parsecs (4.2 ly)	Before Proxima, the title had been held by Alpha Centauri A & B.	^{[NB 1]}^{[NB 3]}	^[8]^[9]
Nearest red dwarf	Alpha Centauri C (Proxima Centauri)	1915	1.30 parsecs (4.2 ly)	Before Proxima, the title had been held by Barnard's Star		^[8]^[9]
Nearest degenerate star	Sirius B	1852	8.6 light-years (2.6 pc)	This is also the nearest white dwarf.	^{[NB 4]}
Nearest subdwarf	Kapteyn's Star	1898	12.83 light-years (3.93 pc)	Kapteyn's star is either a sdM1 subdwarf^[10] or a M1.5V main-sequence star.^[11]^[12] WISEA 1810−1010 is the nearest undisputed subdwarf, at 29.03 light-years (8.90 pc). ^[13]		^[14]
Nearest borderline subgiant	Procyon		11.5 light-years (3.5 pc)	All stars closer to the Sun are either main sequence or dwarf stars.
Nearest undisputed subgiant	Delta Pavonis		19.9 light-years (6.1 pc)	A subgiant, but only slightly brighter than the Sun.
Nearest "true" giant star	Pollux		33.8 light-years (10.4 pc)				List of nearest giant stars
Nearest red giant	Arcturus		36.7 light-years (11.3 pc)				List of nearest giant stars
Nearest supergiant	Canopus		309 light-years (95 pc)	While it is frequently described as a yellow supergiant, especially in evolutionary terms,^[15] it is classified as a bright giant based on spectrum.^[16]		^[15]	List of nearest supergiants
Nearest carbon star	CW Leonis		310 light-years (95 pc)
Nearest F-type star	Procyon A		11.46 light-years (3.51 pc)			^[17]
Nearest A-type star	Sirius A		8.6 light-years (2.6 pc)
Nearest B-type star	Regulus A		79.3 light-years (24.3 pc)			^[18]
Nearest O-type star	Zeta Ophiuchi		366 light-years (112 pc)			^[19]
Nearest Wolf–Rayet star	Gamma Velorum		1,080 light-years (330 pc)
Nearest neutron star	RX J1856.35-3754	2000	400 light-years (120 pc)			^[20]^[21]^[22]
Nearest white dwarf	Sirius B	1852	8.6 light-years (2.6 pc)	Sirius B is also the second white dwarf discovered, after 40 Eridani B.		^[8]^[23]^[24]
Nearest brown dwarf	Luhman 16	2013	6.5 light-years (2.0 pc)	This is a pair of brown dwarfs in a binary system, with no other stars.		^[25]

Brightness and power

Title	Object	Date	Data	Comments	Notes	Refs	See more
Brightest star from the Earth: Apparent magnitude	Sun	prehistoric	m=−26.74		Reported for reference ^{[NB 5]}^{[NB 6]}
Brightest star other than the Sun	Sirius (Alpha Canis Majoris)	prehistoric	m= −1.46		^{[NB 5]}^{[NB 6]}^{[NB 7]}^{[NB 1]}		List of brightest stars
Brightest star in a transient event	Progenitor of SN 1006	1006	m= −7.5	This was a supernova, and its remnant (SNR) is catalogued as PKS 1459-41	^{[NB 5]}^{[NB 6]}^{[NB 1]}	^[26]
Dimmest star from the Earth	UDF 2457		m= 25		^{[NB 5]}^{[NB 6]}
Most luminous star	Godzilla	2022	L= 134,000,000 – 255,000,000 L_Sun			^[27]	List of most luminous stars
Most luminous star in a transient event	Progenitor of GRB 080916C	2008	V=−40	The star exploded in a gamma-ray burst with the total energy equal to 9,000 supernovae	^{[NB 8]}		List of gamma-ray bursts
Least luminous normal star	2MASS J0523−1403	2013	V=20.6		^{[NB 3]}^{[NB 8]}	^[28]
Most energetic star	R136a1	2010	B=-12.5		^{[NB 9]}	^[29]	List of most luminous stars
Most energetic star in a transient event	Progenitor of GRB 080916C	2008			^{[NB 9]}
Least energetic normal star	2MASS J0523−1403	2013	L=0.000126L_Sun		^{[NB 3]}^{[NB 9]}	^[28]
Hottest normal star	WR 102		T= 200,000 K (200,000 °C; 360,000 °F)			^[30]	List of hottest stars
Coolest normal star	S Cassiopeiae		T= 1,800 K (1,530 °C; 2,780 °F)			^[31]	List of coolest stars

Title	Object	Date	Data	Comments	Refs
Hottest degenerate star	CSPN of NGC 4361	2019	270,000 K (486,000 °F)		^[32]
Hottest neutron star	PSR B0943+10		3,100,000 K (5,580,000 °F)		^[33]
Coolest neutron star	PSR B1257+12		28,856 K (51,481 °F)
Hottest white dwarf	KPD 0005+5106	2008	200,000 K (360,000 °F)		^[34]
Hottest PG 1159 star/GW Vir star	RX J2117+3412	1999	170,000 K (306,000 °F)		^[35]
Coolest brown dwarf	WISE 1828+2650		250–400 K (−23–127 °C; −10–260 °F)	WISE 0855−0714 may be cooler at 225–260 K, but its status as a rogue planet or sub-brown dwarf is not well known as its mass is between 3 and 10 `M`_J.

Size and mass

Title	Object	Date	Data	Comments	Notes	Refs	See more
Largest apparent size star	Sun	prehistoric (3rd century BC)	31.6′ – 32.7′	The apparent size of the Sun was first measured by Eratosthenes in the 3rd century BC,^[36] who was the second person to measure the distance to the Sun. However, Thales of Miletus provided a measurement for the real size of the Sun in the 6th century BC, as 1⁄720 the great circle of the Sun (the orbit of the Earth)^[37]	Reported for reference ^{[NB 6]}
Largest extrasolar apparent size star	R Doradus	1997	0.057"	This replaced Betelgeuse as the largest, Betelgeuse having been the first star other than the Sun to have its apparent size measured.	^{[NB 6]}^{[NB 1]}	^[38]
Smallest apparent size star	Thousands of neutron stars located on the other side of the galaxy, likely impossible to resolve.				^{[NB 6]}
Largest star	WOH G64	2009	r=1,540 `R`_☉	Consistent with the upper limit for red supergiants of roughly 1,500 `R`_☉ based on the four largest stars measured in a survey, which is consistent with the current stellar evolutionary theory.^[39]		^[40]^[41]^[42]^[43]	List of largest known stars
Smallest star	EBLM J0555-57Ab	2017	0.084 `R`_☉		^{[NB 3]}	^[44]^[45]^[46]	List of smallest stars
Most massive star	BAT99-98 or R136a1	2014, 2022	226 `M`_☉, 196+34 −27 `M`_☉	This exceeds the predicted limit of 150 `M`_☉, previously believed to be the limit of stellar mass, according to the leading star formation theories. R136a1 considered the most massive known by the scientific community.^[47]	^{[NB 10]}	^[48]^[47]	List of most massive stars
Least massive normal star	SCR 1845–6357 A		0.07 `M`_☉		^{[NB 3]}	^[49]	List of least massive stars

Most massive stars by type
Title	Object	Date	Data	Comments	Refs	See more
Most massive brown dwarf	SDSS J010448.46+153501.8	2017	90 M_Jupiter	This is at the limit between brown dwarfs and red dwarfs.^[50]^[51]	^[52]
Most massive degenerate star	The most massive type of degenerate star is the neutron star. See Most massive neutron star for this recordholder.^{[NB 4]}
Most massive neutron star	PSR J0740+6620	2019	2.14 M_Sun	Several candidates exist which have a higher mass, however their mass has been measured by less precise methods and as such their mass value is regarded as less certain.	^[53]	List of most massive neutron stars
Most massive neutron star (disputed)	PSR J1748-2021B	2015	2.548 M_Sun		^[54]	List of most massive neutron stars
Most massive white dwarf	RE J0317-853/ZTF J1901+1458	1998/2020	1.35 M_Sun		^[55]^[56]

Least massive stars by type
Title	Object	Date	Data	Comments	Notes	Refs	See more
Least massive normal star	SCR 1845–6357 A		0.07 `M`_☉		^{[NB 3]}	^[49]	List of least massive stars
Least massive white dwarf	SDSS J091709.55+463821.8 (WD J0917+4638)	2007	0.17 M_Sun			^[57]^[58]^[59]^[60]
Least massive brown dwarf	(unnamed)	2023	3 – 4 `M`_J	Located in the star cluster IC 348		^[61]^[62]	Sub-brown dwarf

Motion

Title	Object	Date	Data	Comments	Notes	Refs
Highest proper motion	Barnard's Star		10.3 "/yr	This is also the fourth closest star to the Solar System.		^[63]^[64]
Lowest proper motion	N/A	N/A	~0 "/yr	Billions of stars on the other end of the galaxy
Highest radial velocity
Lowest radial velocity	EY Aquarii	2013	-870 km/s	Mira variable	^{[NB 11]}
Highest peculiar motion
Lowest peculiar motion
Highest rotational speed of a normal star	VFTS 102	2013	600 km/s		^{[NB 3]}	^[65]
Lowest rotational speed
Fastest velocity of a star	S5-HVS1	2019	1,755 km/s			^[66]^[67]^[68]^[69]

Star systems

Title	Object	Date	Data	Comments	Notes	Refs
Least stars in a star system	There are many single star systems.
Most stars in a star system	QZ Carinae		Nonuple star system^[70]	System contains at least nine stars.^[70]	^{[NB 12]}	^[70]
Stars in the closest orbit around one another	There are many stars that are in contact binary systems (where two or more stars are in physical contact with each other).
Stars in the most distant orbit around one another	Fomalhaut A/B/C		~0.77 parsecs (2.5 ly)
Nearest multiple star system	Alpha Centauri	1839	1.30 parsecs (4.2 ly)	This was one of the first three stars to have its distance measured.^[71]^[72]		^[8]^[73]
Nearest binary star system	Luhman 16	2013	1.998 parsecs (6.52 ly)	Brown dwarf binary system. The nearest non-brown dwarf binary is Sirius, and the nearest composed entirely of main-sequence stars is Luyten 726-8.
Nearest trinary star system	Alpha Centauri	1839	1.38 parsecs (4.5 ly)	Also nearest multiple star system, and nearest star system of any type
Nearest quaternary star system	Gliese 570		5.88 parsecs (19.2 ly)	K4 star orbited by a pair of M stars, all orbited by a T7 brown dwarf.
Nearest quintenary star system	V1054 Ophiuchi		6.46 parsecs (21.1 ly)	M3 star orbited by a pair of pair of M4 stars, together orbited by an M3.5 star, all orbited by an M7 star.
Nearest sextenary star system	Castor	1718	15.6 parsecs (51 ly)	A1 star orbited by a red dwarf, both orbited by another A star orbited by a red dwarf, all orbited by two red dwarfs orbiting each other.
Nearest septenary star system	Nu Scorpii		150 parsecs (490 ly)	A B3V star orbited by an unknown-type star, both orbited by another unknown star, together orbited by another unknown star, all orbited by a B9III star orbiting a pair of stars which are a B9III and unknown star.

Star systems by type
Title	Object	Date	Data	Comments	Notes	Refs	See more
Shortest period black hole binary system	MAXI J1659-152	2013	2.4 hours	This exceeds the preceding recordholder by about one hour (Swift J1753.5-0127 with a 3.2 hour period)		^[74]

Notes

References

External links

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