B90 (often referred to as [W60] B90) is a large, highly luminous [8] [3] red supergiant star similar to Betelgeuse [3] in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
B90 (often referred to as [W60] B90) is a large, highly luminous [8] [3] red supergiant star similar to Betelgeuse [3] in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
B90 was discovered in 1956 by Karl Gordon Henize in a catalogue of H-alpha emission stars and nebulae in the Large Magellanic Cloud. He designated it LHA 120-N 132E, indicating emission line nebula 132E on plate 120. The LHA is originally LHα, standing for H-alpha emission objects identified at the Lamont-Hussey Observatory. [9]
B90 is believed to be one of the largest, most luminous red supergiants in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Its luminosity was first measured to be of more than 280,000 solar luminosities and a radius of around 1,390 solar radii, [8] although a more detailed study put it at 209,000 L☉ and 1,210 R☉. [3]
The star has episodic mass-loss with a high rate of 4.4+5.1
−1.7×10−6 M☉ yr−1 and a nebula of ~1 pc (~3 ly) surrounding the star. This nebula could indicate that the star has a bow shock, which supplies evidence that the star does undergo episodic mass-loss, which makes it more likely that this is the case for almost all red supergiants.
The variability of the star and possible "great dimming" events are also consistent with episodic mass-loss, similar to those of Betelgeuse and RW Cephei. The rebrightening of B90, just like RW Cephei, took twice as long as that of Betelgeuse which could indicate a relation between the time taken and the radius of red supergiants, where B90 is 1,210 R☉. [3]
B90 has a very high velocity of (19 –27) ± 11 km s−1 towards its nebular bar, therefore proving that it is a "walkaway" star. This potentially makes the possibility that it has a bow shock more likely. [3]
Red supergiants (RSGs) are stars with a supergiant luminosity class and a stellar classification K or M. They are the largest stars in the universe in terms of volume, although they are not the most massive or luminous. Betelgeuse and Antares A are the brightest and best known red supergiants (RSGs), indeed the only first magnitude red supergiant stars.
Mu Cephei, also known as Herschel's Garnet Star, Erakis, or HD 206936, is a red supergiant or hypergiant star in the constellation Cepheus. It appears garnet red and is located at the edge of the IC 1396 nebula. Since 1943, the spectrum of this star has served as a spectral standard by which other stars are classified.
KW Sagittarii is a red supergiant star, located approximately 2,160 parsecs away from the Sun in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius. It is one of the largest known stars, with a diameter about 1,000 times larger than the Sun. If placed at the center of the Solar System, the star's surface would engulf Mars, coming close to Jupiter's orbit.
V354 Cephei is a red supergiant star located within the Milky Way. It is an irregular variable located over 13,000 light-years away from the Sun. It has an estimated radius of 1,139 solar radii. If it were placed in the center of the Solar System, it would extend to between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
R136b is a blue supergiant star in the R136 cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud. It is one of the most massive and most luminous stars known. It is found in the dense R136 open cluster at the centre of NGC 2070 in the Tarantula Nebula.
RW Cephei is a K-type hypergiant and a semirregular variable star in the constellation Cepheus, at the edge of the Sharpless 132 H II region and close to the small open cluster Berkeley 94. It is among the largest stars known with a radius of almost 1,000 times that of the Sun (R☉), nearly as large as the orbit of Jupiter.
WOH G64 is an unusual red supergiant (RSG) star in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) satellite galaxy in the southern constellation of Dorado. It is one of the largest known stars, being described as possibly being the largest star known. It is also one of the most luminous and massive red supergiants, with a radius calculated to be around 1,540 times that of the Sun (R☉) and a luminosity around 282,000 times the solar luminosity (L☉).
Melnick 42 is a massive blue supergiant star in the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud located in the constellation Dorado. Although it is only 21 times the size of the sun, its high temperature of 47,300 K makes it one of the most luminous stars of the Tarantula Nebula at 3,600,000 L☉. It is less than two parsecs from the centre of the R136 cluster, although that is well outside the central core.
V1429 Aquilae is a candidate luminous blue variable multiple star system located in the constellation of Aquila. It is often referred to by its Mount Wilson Observatory catalog number as MWC 314. It is a hot luminous star with strong emission lines in its spectrum.
Westerlund 1 W26 or Westerlund 1 BKS AS is a red supergiant located at the outskirts of the Westerlund 1 super star cluster. It is one of the largest known stars and the most luminous supergiant stars discovered so far with radius calculated to be in excess of a thousand times the solar radius, and a luminosity of over 200,000 times the solar luminosity. If placed at the center of the Solar System, its photosphere would engulf the orbit of Jupiter.
HV 2112 is a cool luminous variable star in the Small Magellanic Cloud. Until 2018, it was considered to be the most likely candidate for a Thorne–Żytkow object, but it is now thought to be an asymptotic giant branch star.
IRC −10414 is a red supergiant and runaway star in the constellation Scutum, a rare case of a red supergiant with a bow shock.
Melnick 34, also called BAT99-116, is a binary Wolf–Rayet star near R136 in the 30 Doradus complex in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Both components are amongst the most massive and most luminous stars known, and the system is the most massive known binary system.
BAT99-98 is a Wolf–Rayet star located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, in NGC 2070 near the R136 cluster in the Tarantula Nebula. At 226 M☉ and 5,000,000 L☉ it is one of the most massive and luminous stars currently known.
HDE 316285 is a blue supergiant star in the constellation Sagittarius. It is a candidate luminous blue variable and lies about 6,000 light years away in the direction of the Galactic Center.
R71 is a star in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) in the constellation Mensa. It is classified as a luminous blue variable and is one of the most luminous stars in the LMC. It lies three arc-minutes southwest of the naked-eye star β Mensae.
LHA 120-S 79 is an RV Tauri variable star located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, located about 163,000 light years away in the constellation of Dorado, with a period of 37.203 days. The star is extremely hot for a star of its type, as its temperature is over 10,000 K, and it is hot enough to be classified as a B-type blue giant, as well as being the hottest RV Tauri variable in the LMC. LHA 120-S 79 is also extremely luminous, at over 14,000 L☉, and it is the most luminous known star of its type in the galaxy.
HD 37836 is a candidate luminous blue variable located in the Large Magellanic Cloud and one of the brightest stars in its galaxy.
