UY Scuti: The Overcompensating Star

Introduction

UY Scuti is a star that, much like your annoying coworker who always needs to one-up you, just has to be the biggest and brightest in the room. Located in the constellation Scutum, UY Scuti is a red supergiant and also happens to be the biggest known star in the Milky Way galaxy. Apparently, size really does matter.

Size Matters

UY Scuti is so massive that if we were to compare it to our own Sun, it would be around 1.7 billion times larger. Yes, you read that correctly. Billion. It’s so large, in fact, that if it were placed in the center of our solar system, it would extend past the orbit of Jupiter. Talk about overcompensating.

Silliness of the Universe

Despite its size, UY Scuti is actually quite silly when you think about it. While we humans love to assign names to things, the only reason why UY Scuti is called that is because it was the twentieth (yes, twentieth) variable star discovered in the constellation Scutum. It’s kind of like being named “New Kid in Class #20” - not really that impressive.

Conclusion

So, the next time someone tries to one-up you by bragging about their accomplishments or possessions, just remember UY Scuti. This star may be the biggest in the Milky Way, but at the end of the day, it’s still just a silly overcompensating ball of gas.