VY Canis Majoris
By: Grant Falk
Short Summary
The VY Canis Majoris is the largest known star to date. It is approximately 3,900 light years away from Earth. Located in the castellation Canis Major, it is about 1200 times bigger than the sun. As this is this biggest star to be seen, it it classified as a red supergiant. It is estimated that it has already ejected half of it's mass, creating a nebula around the supergiant. In fact, after it implodes on itself, it is so big it will create at black whole. Although we will not see this for quite some time, it helps scientist learn more about the universe through observing a star this enormous.