Our Solar System consists of the Sun, the planets orbiting it, and smaller celestial bodies. All of these are mysterious and surprising because they are still not fully understood. Below will be indicated the sizes of the planets of the solar system in ascending order, and a brief description of the planets themselves.

There is a well-known list of planets, in which they are listed in order of their distance from the Sun:

Pluto used to be in last place, but in 2006 it lost its status as a planet, as larger celestial bodies were found further away from it. The listed planets are divided into rocky (inner) and giant planets.

Brief information about rocky planets

The inner (rocky) planets include those bodies that are located inside the asteroid belt separating Mars and Jupiter. They got their name “stone” because they consist of various hard rocks, minerals and metals. They are united by a small number or absence of satellites and rings (like Saturn). On the surface of rocky planets there are volcanoes, depressions and craters formed as a result of the fall of other cosmic bodies.

But if you compare their sizes and arrange them in ascending order, the list will look like this:

Brief information about the giant planets

The giant planets are located beyond the asteroid belt and therefore are also called outer planets. They consist of very light gases - hydrogen and helium. These include:

But if you make a list by the size of the planets in the solar system in ascending order, the order changes:

A little information about the planets

In modern scientific understanding, a planet means a celestial body that revolves around the Sun and has sufficient mass for its own gravity. Thus, there are 8 planets in our system, and, importantly, these bodies are not similar to each other: each has its own unique differences, both in appearance and in the components of the planet themselves.

- This is the planet closest to the Sun and the smallest among the others. It weighs 20 times less than the Earth! But, despite this, it has a fairly high density, which allows us to conclude that there are a lot of metals in its depths. Due to its strong proximity to the Sun, Mercury is subject to sudden temperature changes: at night it is very cold, during the day the temperature rises sharply.

- This is the next planet closest to the Sun, in many ways similar to Earth. It has a more powerful atmosphere than Earth and is considered a very hot planet (its temperature is above 500 C).

- This is a unique planet due to its hydrosphere, and the presence of life on it led to the appearance of oxygen in its atmosphere. Most of the surface is covered with water, and the rest is occupied by continents. A unique feature is the tectonic plates, which move, albeit very slowly, resulting in changes in the landscape. The Earth has one satellite - the Moon.

– also known as the “Red Planet”. It gets its fiery red color from a large amount of iron oxides. Mars has a very thin atmosphere and much lower atmospheric pressure compared to Earth. Mars has two satellites - Deimos and Phobos.

is a real giant among the planets of the solar system. Its weight is 2.5 times the weight of all the planets combined. The surface of the planet consists of helium and hydrogen and is in many ways similar to the sun. Therefore, it is not surprising that there is no life on this planet - there is no water and a solid surface. But Jupiter has a large number of satellites: 67 are currently known.

– This planet is famous for the presence of rings consisting of ice and dust revolving around the planet. With its atmosphere it resembles that of Jupiter, and in size it is slightly smaller than this giant planet. In terms of the number of satellites, Saturn is also slightly behind - it has 62 known. The largest satellite, Titan, is larger than Mercury.

- the lightest planet among the outer ones. Its atmosphere is the coldest in the entire system (minus 224 degrees), it has a magnetosphere and 27 satellites. Uranium consists of hydrogen and helium, and the presence of ammonia ice and methane has also been noted. Because Uranus has a high axial tilt, it appears as if the planet is rolling rather than rotating.

- despite its smaller size than , it is heavier and exceeds the mass of the Earth. This is the only planet that was found through mathematical calculations, and not through astronomical observations. The strongest winds in the solar system were recorded on this planet. Neptune has 14 moons, one of which, Triton, is the only one that rotates in the opposite direction.

It is very difficult to imagine the entire scale of the solar system within the limits of the studied planets. It seems to people that the Earth is a huge planet, and, in comparison with other celestial bodies, it is so. But if you place giant planets next to it, then the Earth already takes on tiny dimensions. Of course, next to the Sun, all celestial bodies appear small, so representing all the planets in their full scale is a difficult task.

The most famous classification of planets is their distance from the Sun. But a listing that takes into account the sizes of the planets of the Solar System in ascending order would also be correct. The list will be presented as follows:

As you can see, the order has not changed much: the inner planets are on the first lines, and Mercury occupies the first place, and the outer planets occupy the remaining positions. In fact, it doesn’t matter at all in what order the planets are located, this will not make them any less mysterious and beautiful.

Our own solar system appears too large, stretching more than 4 trillion miles from the sun. But it is just one of the billions of other stars that make up our Milky Way galaxy.

General characteristics of the planets of the solar system

A typical picture of the solar system is as follows: 9 planets revolve in their oval orbits around a constant, always blazing Sun.

But the characteristics of the planets of the solar system are much more complex and interesting. In addition to themselves, there are many of their satellites, as well as thousands of asteroids. Far beyond the orbit of Pluto, which has been classified as a dwarf planet, there are tens of thousands of comets and other frozen worlds. Tied by gravity to the Sun, they revolve around it over vast distances. The solar system is chaotic, constantly changing, sometimes even dramatically. Gravitational forces cause neighboring planets to influence each other, changing each other's orbits over time. Hard collisions with asteroids can give planets new tilt angles. The characteristics of the planets of the solar system are interesting in that they sometimes change climatic conditions, because their atmospheres develop and change.

A star called the Sun

As sad as it is to realize, the Sun is gradually using up its supply of nuclear fuel. In billions of years, it will expand to the size of a giant red star, swallowing the planets Mercury and Venus, while on Earth the temperature will rise to such a level that the oceans will evaporate into space, and the Earth will become a dry rocky world, similar to today's Mercury. Having exhausted the entire supply of nuclear fusion, the Sun will shrink to the size of a white dwarf, and after millions of years, as a burnt-out shell, it will turn into a black dwarf. But 5 billion years ago the Sun and its 9 planets did not yet exist. There are many different versions of the appearance of the Sun as a protostar and its system in the clouds of cosmic gas and dust, but as a result of billions of years of nuclear fusion, modern man observes it as it is now.

Along with the Earth and other planets, a star called the Sun was born approximately 4.6 billion years ago from a huge cloud of dust that rotated in space. Our star is a ball of glowing gases; if it were possible to weigh the Sun, the scales would show 1990,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg of matter consisting of helium and hydrogen.

Gravity force

Gravity, according to scientists, is the most mysterious mystery in the universe. This is the attraction of one matter to another and what gives the planets the shape of a ball. The Sun's gravity is powerful enough to hold 9 planets, a dozen moons and thousands of asteroids and comets. All this is held around the Sun by invisible threads of gravity. But as the distance between space objects increases, the attraction between them quickly weakens. The characteristics of the planets of the solar system directly depend on gravity. For example, the attraction between Pluto and the Sun is much less than the attraction between the Sun and Mercury or Venus. The Sun and Earth mutually attract each other, but due to the fact that the mass of the Sun is much greater, the attraction from its side is more powerful. A comparative description of the planets of the solar system will help to understand the main features of each of the planets.

The sun's rays travel in different directions in outer space, reaching all nine planets that orbit the sun. But depending on how distant the planet is, different amounts of light come to it, hence the different characteristics of the planets of the solar system.

Mercury

On Mercury, the planet closest to the Sun, the Sun appears 3 times larger than the Earth's Sun. During the day it can be blindingly bright. But the sky is dark even during the day because IT has no atmosphere to reflect and scatter sunlight. When the Sun hits Mercury's rocky landscape, temperatures can reach up to 430 C. However, at night, all the heat returns freely to space, and the planet's surface temperature can drop to -173 C.

Venus

Characteristics of the planets of the solar system (grade 5 is studying this topic) leads to consideration of the planet closest to earthlings - Venus. Venus, the second planet from the Sun, is surrounded by an atmosphere that primarily consists of carbon dioxide gas. In such an atmosphere, clouds of sulfuric acid are constantly observed. Interestingly, despite the fact that Venus is further away from the Sun than Mercury, its surface temperature is higher and reaches 480 C. This is due to carbon dioxide, which creates a greenhouse effect and retains heat on the planet. Venus has a similar size and density to that of Earth, but the properties of its atmosphere are destructive for all living things. Chemical reactions in clouds produce acids that can dissolve lead, tin and stones. In addition, Venus is covered with thousands of volcanoes and rivers of lava that took millions of years to form. Near the surface, Venus' atmosphere is 50 times thicker than Earth's. Therefore, all objects penetrating through it explode before they even reach the surface. Scientists have discovered about 400 flat spots on Venus, each of which is from 29 to 48 km in diameter. These are the scars of meteorites that exploded above the surface of the planet.

Earth

The Earth, where we all live, has ideal atmospheric and temperature conditions for life, because our atmosphere consists mainly of nitrogen and oxygen. Scientists prove that the Earth rotates around the Sun, tilted on one side. Indeed, the position of the planet deviates from a right angle by 23.5 degrees. According to scientists, our planet received this tilt, as well as its size, after a powerful collision with a cosmic body. It is this tilt of the Earth that creates the seasons: winter, spring, summer and autumn.

Mars

After Earth comes Mars. On Mars, the Sun appears three times smaller than from Earth. Only a third of the light, compared to what earthlings see, is received by Mars. In addition, hurricanes often occur on this planet, raising red dust from the surface. But, nevertheless, on summer days the temperature on Mars can reach 17 C, just like on Earth. Mars has a red tint because the iron oxide minerals in its soil reflect the reddish-orange light of the Sun, in other words, the Martian soil contains a lot of rusty iron, which is why Mars is often called the red planet. Martian air is very thin - 1 percent of the density of the Earth's atmosphere. The planet's atmosphere consists of carbon dioxide. Scientists admit that on this planet once, about 2 billion years ago, there were rivers and liquid water, and the atmosphere contained oxygen, because iron becomes rusty only when interacting with oxygen. It is possible that the atmosphere of Mars was once suitable for the emergence of life on this planet.

As for the chemical and physical parameters, the characteristics of the planets of the Solar System are shown below (table for the terrestrial planets).

As you can see, the chemical composition of the atmosphere of all three planets is very different.

This is a characteristic of the planets of the solar system. The table above clearly shows the ratio of various chemicals, as well as the pressure, temperature and presence of water on each of them, so it is now not difficult to get a general idea about this.

Giants of the Solar System

Beyond Mars are giant planets consisting mainly of gases. The physical characteristics of the planets of the solar system, such as Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, are interesting.

All giants are covered with thick clouds, and each subsequent one receives less and less light from the Sun. From Jupiter, the Sun looks like a fifth of what earthlings see. Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. Under thick clouds of ammonia and water, Jupiter is covered in an ocean of metallic liquid hydrogen. A special feature of the planet is the presence of a giant red spot on the clouds hanging over its equator. This is a giant storm almost 48,000 km long that has been orbiting the planet for more than 300 years. Saturn is the show planet in the solar system. On Saturn, sunlight is even weaker, but still has enough power to illuminate the planet's vast ring system. Thousands of rings, which are made mostly of ice, are illuminated by the Sun, turning them into giant circles of light.

The rings of Saturn have not yet been studied by earth scientists. According to some versions, they were formed as a result of a collision of its satellite with a comet or an asteroid and, under the influence of enormous gravity, turned into rings.

The planet Uranus is a cold world, which is located at a distance of 2.9 billion km from the main star. The average temperature of its atmosphere is -177 C. This is the planet with the greatest inclination and rotates around the Sun, lying on its side, and even in the opposite direction.

Pluto

The outermost planet 9, icy Pluto, glows with a distant, cold light and is 5.8 billion kilometers away, appearing as a bright star in the dark sky.

This planet is so small and so distant from Earth that scientists know very little about it. Its surface consists of nitrogen ice; in order to make one revolution around the Sun, it takes approximately 284 Earth years. The sun on this planet is no different from billions of other stars.

Complete characteristics of the planets of the solar system

The table (5th graders study this topic in some detail), located below, allows you not only to get an idea of ​​the planets of the solar system, but also makes it possible to compare them according to their main parameters.

As you can see, there is no planet similar to Earth in our Galaxy. The above characteristics of the planets of the solar system (table, grade 5) make it possible to understand this.

Conclusion

A brief description of the planets of the Solar System will allow readers to plunge a little into the world of space and remember that earthlings are so far the only intelligent beings among the vast Universe and the world around them must be constantly protected, preserved and restored.

I love looking at the starry sky. It is very exciting. When a star falls, I always make a wish. For me personally, every star is a mysterious and unknown world. Scientists prove that there is no life in the entire Galaxy except Earth. Is this so... Perhaps there is something on some star. There are millions of them and they are all so far from us.

What are the sizes of stars?

Every person knows what a star is. From Earth we see a small bright celestial body. In fact, it's very large balls that consist of different gases. It has been proven that in their core temperature is about 6 million degrees. And at the heart of the stars lie Vhydrogen (90%) and helium (slightly less than 10%). In fact, a star is also the Sun, only smaller in size (or larger). Astronomers often call them "fireballs."

If you look through a telescope, you can see that each star is different in size, shape and is surrounded by a different nebula. Stars are divided into three types based on size:

• dwarfs- they are the majority. They are much smaller than the sun, therefore they save their energy and can shine for tens of billions of years;
• giants - their mass is approximately the same as the Sun. Less bright than dwarfs;
• supergiants- relatively rare in the solar system. Their diameter is more than 1 billion km. Such stars in 1 00 times more from the Sun.

Classification of stars by color

Do you know that The color of a star directly depends on its temperature s. Red stars have the lowest temperature, blue stars have the highest:

• red stars– temperature 2,500 -3,500 °C. These are mostly dwarfs, and to a lesser extent giants. They are classified as cool stars;
• orange– 3,500 – 5000 °C. Also cold stars, dwarfs;
• brown 5000 -6000 °C. They are often spoken by planets, mainly dwarfs;
• yellow– 6000 – 7,500 °C. They are classified as solar type. These are giant stars;
• white– 7,500 -10,000 °C. They belong to a number of cooling ones;
• blue– 10000 – 28000 °C. They have a blue glow. Some of the hottest;
• blue– 28000 – 50000 °C. The hottest stars.

It seems to us from Earth that all the stars are almost the same. And we think that they differ only in the brightness of the glow. In fact - all stars are different sizes and have different temperatures.

Good afternoon dear friends.

Have you ever wondered what stars might look like compared to each other? Today I want to tell and show you how big space objects can reach. It is impossible to imagine how great the difference in the sizes of the planets is, you have to see it. After looking through a huge number of pictures, I came across an image comparing our Earth and the Sun, just look at how small our planet is. But the most interesting thing is that there are stars much larger than our Sun. Let's get a look.

• Mercury- is the smallest planet in the terrestrial group. The radius of Mercury is 2439.7 + 1.0 km. The planet's mass is 0.055 Earth's. Area 0.147 Earth.

• Mars- exceeds in size only Mercury. The mass of the planet is equal to 10.7% of the mass of the Earth. The volume is equal to 0.15 of the Earth's volume.

• Venus- is closest to Earth in terms of its indicators. The orbital period is 224.7 Earth days. The volume is 0.857 Earth's. Mass - 0.815 Earth.

• Earth- fourth largest on the list after Mercury.

• Neptune- Neptune is 17.2 times more massive than Earth.

• Uranus- slightly larger than Neptune.

• Saturn- classified as a gas giant on a par with Jupiter, Neptune and Uranus. Radius of the planet 57316 + 7 km. Weight: 5.6846 x 1026 kg.

• Jupiter- the largest planet in the solar system. Classified as a gas giant. Radius of the planet 69173 + 7 km. Weight - 1.8986 x 1027 kg.

• Wolf 359- the star is 2.4 parsecs or 7.80 light years away from the Solar System. A faint red dwarf that is not visible to the naked eye. The mass is 0.09-0.13 solar masses. Radius - 0.16-0.19 radius of the Sun.

• Sun- the only star in the solar system. The mass of the Sun is equal to 99.866% of the total mass of our solar system, exceeding the mass of the Earth by 333,000 times. The diameter of the Sun is 109 times the diameter of the Earth. Volume - 1,303,600 Earth volumes.

• Sirius- the brightest star in the night sky. Located in the constellation Canis Major. Sirius can be seen from any region of the Earth except the northernmost. Sirius is 8.6 light years from the solar system. Sirius is twice the size of our Sun.

• Pollux- the brightest star in the constellation Gemini. Star mass 1.7 + 0.4 solar masses. Radius - 8.0 solar masses.

• Arcturus- the brightest star in the constellation Bootes. If you look up into the night sky, the second brightest star will be Arcturus.

• Aldebaran- the brightest star in the constellation Taurus. Mass - 2.5 solar masses. Radius - 38 radii of the Sun.

• Rigel- the brightest star in the constellation Orion, a blue-white supergiant. Rigel is located at a distance of 870 light years from our Sun. Rigel is 68 times larger than our Sun, and its luminosity is 85,000 times stronger than the Sun. Rigel is considered one of the most powerful stars in the galaxy. Mass is 17 solar masses, radius is 70 solar radii.

• Antares- the star is located in the constellation Scorpio and is considered the brightest in this constellation. Red supergiant. Distance 600 light years. The luminosity of Antares is 10,000 times stronger than the sun. The mass of the star is 15-18 solar masses. With such a large size and such a small mass, we can conclude that the density of the star is very low.

• Betelgeuse- a red supergiant in the constellation Orion. The approximate distance to the star is 500-600 light years. The diameter of the star is approximately 1000 times greater than the diameter of the Sun. Betelgeuse's mass is equal to 20 solar masses. The brightness of the star is 100,000 times greater than that of the sun.

That's all for me, subscribe to my blog, leave your comments better here, under the article, and not on the third-party site from which you came. If you liked the article, put g +1 and tell your friends. Also join the VKontakte group

Have you asked yourself the question: what do the planets look like in comparison with each other?! - I personally more than once, but at the same time I could not visually imagine how big the difference between them is. I have always been interested in comparing them with each other, observing at least approximate proportions... I took a break from a large number of images, and came across a picture that is close in its parameters to the required one. On it I tried to show how small our planet is compared to the Sun, but the most interesting thing is that there are a huge number of stars much larger than the Sun, tens of thousands or more times. This article presents a visual comparison of the sizes of the planets of the solar system and some famous stars with each other, as well as their main physical characteristics.

1. Mercury is the smallest terrestrial planet. Its radius is only 2439.7 ± 1.0 km. The planet's mass is 3.3022×1023 kg (0.055 Earth's). The average density of Mercury is quite high - 5.43 g/cm³, which is only slightly less than the density of the Earth (0.984 Earth's). Surface area (S) - 6.083 × 1010 km³ (0.147 Earth).

2. Mars is the fourth most distant from the Sun (after Mercury, Venus and Earth) and the seventh largest (exceeding only Mercury in mass and diameter) planet of the solar system. The mass of Mars is 10.7% of the mass of the Earth (6.423 × 1023 kg versus 5.9736 × 1024 kg for the Earth), the volume is 16.318 × 1010 km³, which is about 0.15 the volume of the Earth, and the average linear diameter is 0.53 diameters Earth (6800 km). Surface area (S) - 144,371,391 km² (0.283 Earth).

3. Venus is the second inner planet of the Solar System with an orbital period of 224.7 Earth days. Volume (V) - 9.38 × 1011 km³ (0.857 Earth). Mass (m) - 4.8685×1024 kg (0.815 Earth). Average density (ρ) - 5.24 g/cm³. Surface area (S) - 4.60×108 km² (0.902 Earth). The average radius is 6051.8 ± 1.0 km.

4. Earth is the third planet from the Sun in the Solar System, the largest in diameter, mass and density among the terrestrial planets. The average radius is 6,371.0 km. Surface area (S) - 510,072,000 km². Volume (V) - 10.832073×1011 km³. Weight (m) - 5.9736×1024 kg. Average density (ρ) - 5.5153 g/cm³.

5. Neptune is the eighth and most distant planet of the solar system. Neptune is also the fourth largest planet in diameter and third largest in mass. Neptune's mass is 1.0243 × 1026 kg, which is 17.2 times, and the diameter of the equator is 3.9 times greater than that of the Earth. The average radius is 24552.5 ± 20 km. Surface area (S) - 7.6408×109 km². Volume (V) - 6.254 × 1013 km³. Average density (ρ) - 1.638 g/cm³.

6. Uranus is the seventh planet in terms of distance from the Sun, the third in diameter and the fourth in terms of mass in the solar system. The average radius is 25266 km. Surface area (S) - 8.1156×109 km². Volume (V) - 6.833×1013 km³. Weight (m) - 8.6832×1025 kg. Average density (ρ) - 1.27 g/cm³.

7. Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System after Jupiter. Saturn, as well as Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune, are classified as gas giants. Average radius - 57316 ± 7 km. Surface area (S) - 4.27 × 1010 km². Volume (V) - 8.2713×1014 km³. Weight (m) - 5.6846×1026 kg. Average density (ρ) - 0.687 g/cm³.

8. Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun, the largest in the Solar System. Along with Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, Jupiter is classified as a gas giant. Average radius – 69173 ± 7 km. Surface area (S) - 6.21796×1010 km². Volume (V) - 1.43128×1015 km³. Weight (m) - 1.8986×1027 kg.

9. Wolf 359 (CN Leio) is a star approximately 2.4 parsecs or 7.80 light years from the Solar System. It is one of the closest stars to the Sun; it is known that only the Alpha Centauri system and Barnard's star are closer to it. In the constellation Leo it is located next to the ecliptic. It is an extremely faint red dwarf, not visible to the naked eye, and is a flare star. Mass - 0.09-0.13 M☉ (M☉ - solar mass). Radius - 0.16-0.19 R☉ (R☉ - solar radius).

10. The Sun is the only star in the Solar System around which other objects of this system revolve: planets and their satellites, dwarf planets and their satellites, asteroids, meteoroids, comets and cosmic dust. The mass of the Sun is 99.866% of the total mass of the entire Solar System. Solar radiation supports life on Earth (photons are necessary for the initial stages of the photosynthesis process) and determines climate. Of the stars currently known to belong to the 50 closest star systems within 17 light years, the Sun is the fourth brightest star (its absolute magnitude is +4.83m). The Sun's mass is 333,000 times that of the Earth. More than 99% of the mass of the solar system is contained in the sun. Most individual stars in the Universe have a mass between 0.08 and 50 solar masses, but the mass of black holes and entire galaxies can reach millions and billions of solar masses. The average diameter is 1.392 × 109 m (109 diameters of the Earth). Equatorial radius - 6.955×108 m. Volume - 1.4122×1027 m³ (1,303,600 Earth volumes). Mass - 1.9891×1030 kg (332,946 Earth masses). Surface area - 6.088 × 1018 m² (11,900 Earth areas).

11. Sirius (lat. Sirius), α Canis Major, is the brightest star in the night sky. Sirius can be observed from any region of the Earth, with the exception of its northernmost regions. Sirius is 8.6 light years away from the Solar System and is one of the closest stars to us. It is a main sequence star of spectral class A1. Initially, Sirius consisted of two powerful blue stars of spectral class A. The mass of one component was 5 solar masses, the second - 2 solar masses (Sirius B and Sirius A). Then the more powerful and massive component Sirius B burned out and became a white dwarf. Now the mass of Sirius A is approximately twice the mass of the Sun, Sirius B is slightly less than the mass of the Sun.

12. Pollux (β Gem / β Gemini / Beta Gemini) is the brightest star in the constellation Gemini and one of the brightest stars in the sky. Weight - 1.7±0.4 M☉. Radius - 8.0 R☉.

13. Arcturus (α Boo / α Boötes / Alpha Boötes) is the brightest star in the constellation Bootes and the northern hemisphere and the fourth brightest star in the night sky after Sirius, Canopus and the Alpha Centauri system. The apparent magnitude of Arcturus is −0.05m. Because Alpha Centauri consists of two bright stars (−0.01m and +1.34m) that are closer together than the resolution limit of the human eye, it appears brighter to the naked eye than Arcturus. Arcturus is the second brightest star visible at northern latitudes (after Sirius) and is the brightest star north of the celestial equator. Weight - 1–1.5 M☉. Radius - 25.7 ± 0.3 R☉.

14. Aldebaran (α Tau / α Tauri / Alpha Tauri) is the brightest star in the constellation Taurus and one of the brightest stars in the night sky. Weight - 2.5±0.15 M☉. Radius - 38±0.36 R☉.

15. Rigel is a bright near-equatorial star, β Orionis. Blue-white supergiant. The name means "foot" in Arabic (referring to the foot of Orion). It has a visual magnitude of 0.12m. Rigel is located approximately 870 light years from the Sun. Its surface temperature is 11,200 K (spectral class B8I-a), its diameter is about 95 million km (that is, 68 times larger than the Sun) and its absolute magnitude is −7m; its luminosity is 85,000 times higher than the Sun, which means it is one of the most powerful stars in the Galaxy (in any case, the most powerful of the brightest stars in the sky, since Rigel is the closest star with such enormous luminosity). Weight - 17 M☉. Radius - 70 R☉.

16. Antares (α Sco / Alpha Scorpii) is the brightest star in the constellation Scorpio and one of the brightest stars in the night sky, a red supergiant. In Russia it is better visible in the southern regions, but is also observed in the central regions. Enters Bubble I - the region adjacent to the Local Bubble, which includes the Solar System. Antares is an M-class supergiant, with a diameter of approximately 2.1×109 km. Antares is approximately 600 light years away from Earth. Its visible luminosity is 10,000 times that of the sun, but given that the star emits much of its energy in the infrared, the total luminosity is 65,000 times that of the sun. The star's mass ranges from 15 to 18 solar masses. The huge size and relatively small mass indicate that Antares has a very low density. Weight - 15-18 M☉. Radius - 700 R☉.

17. Betelgeuse is a red supergiant (α Orionis), a semi-regular variable star, the brightness of which varies from 0.2 to 1.2 magnitude and averages about 0.7m. According to modern estimates, the angular diameter of Betelgeuse is about 0.055 arcseconds. The distance to the star, according to various estimates, ranges from 495 to 640 light years. This is one of the largest stars known to astronomers: if it were placed instead of the Sun, then at its minimum size it would fill the orbit of Mars, and at its maximum it would reach the orbit of Jupiter. If we take 570 light years as the distance to Betelgeuse, then its diameter will exceed the diameter of the Sun by approximately 950-1000 times. Betelgeuse has a color index (B-V) of 1.86 and is thought to have a mass of about 20 solar masses. At its minimum size, Betelgeuse's brightness exceeds the brightness of the Sun by 80 thousand times, and at its maximum - 105 thousand times. Weight - 18-19 M☉. Radius - ~1000 R☉.

18. Mu Cephei (μ Cep / μ Cephei), also known as Herschel's Garnet Star, is a red supergiant star located in the constellation Cepheus. It is one of the largest and most powerful (total luminosity 350,000 times higher than the Sun) stars in our Galaxy and belongs to the spectral class M2Ia. The star is approximately 1650 times larger than the Sun (radius 7.7 AU) and if placed in its place, its radius would be between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn. Mu Cephei could contain a billion suns and 2.7 quadrillion earths. If the Earth were the size of a golf ball (4.3 cm), Mu Cephei would be the width of 2 Golden Gate Bridges (5.5 km). Weight - 25 M☉. Radius -1650 R☉.

19. VV Cephei (lat. VV Cephei) is an eclipsing double star of the Algol type in the constellation Cepheus, which is located at a distance of about 3000 light years from Earth. Component A is the third largest star currently known to science and the second largest star in the Milky Way galaxy (after VY Canis Majoris and WOH G64). The M2 class red supergiant VV Cephei A is the second largest in our Galaxy (after the hypergiant VY Canis Majoris). Its diameter is 2,644,800,000 km - this is 1600-1900 times greater than the diameter of the Sun, and its luminosity is 275,000-575,000 times greater. The star fills the Roche lobe, and its material flows to the neighboring companion. The speed of gas outflow reaches 200 km/s. It has been established that VV Cephei A is a physical variable pulsating with a period of 150 days. The speed of the stellar wind flowing from the star reaches 25 km/s. Judging by its orbital motion, the mass of the star is about 100 solar, however, its luminosity indicates a mass of 25-40 solar. Weight - 25–40 or 100/20 M☉. Radius - 1600–1900/10 R☉.

20. VY Canis Majoris - a star in the constellation Canis Major, a hypergiant. It is perhaps the largest and one of the brightest known stars. The distance from Earth to VY Canis Majoris is approximately 5000 light years. The radius of the star is from 1800 to 2100 R☉. The diameter of this supergiant is about 2.5-2.9 billion kilometers. The mass of the star is estimated at 30-40 M☉, which indicates the negligible density of the star in its depths.