Melnick 34
Wolf-Rayet binary (WN5h + WN5h) · Mk 34 · BAT99 116
Most massive binary star known
The most massive binary system known: two Wolf-Rayet giants of roughly 150 and 135 solar masses locked in a 155-day orbit, each among the heaviest stars ever measured. Their masses were read straight from the way they swing around each other.
Illustration generated from temperature, not a photograph
148 ☉
mass (the Sun = 1)
2.0 million ×
as bright as the Sun
53,000 K
surface · blue
19 R☉
radius (the Sun = 1)
163,000 ly
from Earth
13.1
apparent magnitude
It pours out about 2.0 million times the Sun’s light. Its light has been travelling 163,000 years to reach us, so you see Melnick 34 as it was 163,000 years ago.
Source · Tehrani et al. 2019, MNRAS 484, 2692 · View on Wikidata
It lives in
Large Magellanic Cloud
Irregular galaxy, 163,000 ly away.
Other notable stars in Large Magellanic Cloud
R136a1Wolf-Rayet star (WN5h)R136a2Wolf-Rayet star (WN5h)Melnick 42O-type supergiant (O2 If)VFTS 682Wolf-Rayet star (WN5h)HD 269810O-type giant (O2 III)S DoradusLuminous blue variable
Stars of similar brightness
HD 269810O-type giant (O2 III)2.2 million ×HD 5980Wolf-Rayet + blue-variable system2.2 million ×VFTS 682Wolf-Rayet star (WN5h)3.2 million ×Melnick 42O-type supergiant (O2 If)3.6 million ×Eta CarinaeLuminous blue variable4.0 million ×S DoradusLuminous blue variable1.0 million ×
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→