2006/10/13 by R. M. Humphreys, Roberta M. Humphreys, Humphreys, Roberta M. · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/0610433
5 pages, 1 figure
arxiv created 2006/10/13 · openalex publication_date 2006/10/13 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The luminosity of the famous red supergiant VY CMa (L ~ 4 - 5 x 10e5 Lsun) is well-determined from its spectral energy distribution and distance, and places it near the empirical upper luminosity limit for cool hypergiants. In contrast, its surface temperature is fundamentally ill-defined. Both contradict a recent paper by Massey, Levesque and Plez (2006). Implications for its location on the HR Diagram and its apparent size are discussed.