Fig 1. A render of a supermassive star

Assignment 1 - The Biggest Stars

The biggest stars in our universe are called supergiants, and they make our Sun look tiny in comparison. These giants shine incredibly bright, burn through their fuel quickly, and eventually end their lives in spectacular explosions called supernovae, scattering heavy elements that help form new stars and planets. NASA has documented a list of some of the biggest of these stars.

Facts about supermassive stars

They’re called supergiants or hypergiants; the most massive and luminous stars known.
They burn fuel much faster and therefore have much shorter lifespans than smaller stars, despite their size.

A list of some of the biggest known stars

Star	Mass (Where our sun = 1)	Luminosity (Where our sun = 1)
R136a1	350	10,000,000
Eta Carina	250	5,000,000
Peony Nebula	175	3,200,000
Pistol Star	150	6,300,000
HD269810	150	2,200,000

The predicted lifespan of a star depending on its luminosity

T = 10 Billion years / M^2.5 Where M = the mass of our sun