Andromeda
Log inJoin

Star

The Pistol Star

Also V4647 Sgr · [FMM95] 3

Open in Ouranos

One of the most luminous stars known, a luminous blue variable near the Galactic Centre, hidden from visible light by dust.

Measured

Distance
27,000 light-years
Constellation
Sagittarius
Position (J2000)
RA 17h 46m 15s, Dec −28.83°

How far, from the Sun

About 27,000 light-years. To cross it:

  • Light27,000 years
  • Voyager 1's speed480 million years
  • Driving at 100 km/h291 billion years

Voyager 1 at the speed it moved outward over the year to 2026-10-25 (JPL Horizons). Driving: nonstop, never refuelling.

Facts

  • It lies in the Quintuplet Cluster, inside the Pistol Nebula: gas it threw off, lit mainly by the cluster's other hot stars.
  • Dust dims it by 20 to 30 magnitudes in visible light; it is placed at the Galactic Centre's distance.

Where this comes from

  • Placed at the Galactic Centre's distance, GRAVITY Collaboration 2022, A&A 657, L12 (8,277 ± 9 pc), the value used for Sagittarius A*; it lies within about 100 light-years of it on the sky
  • This research has made use of the SIMBAD database, CDS, Strasbourg, France (Wenger et al. 2000, A&AS 143, 9).
  • This research has made use of the VizieR catalogue access tool, CDS, Strasbourg, France (DOI: 10.26093/cds/vizier).

Every catalogue Ouranos draws is credited on the credits page.