I am wondering what the brightest individual star is in M31, the Andromeda Galaxy. Specifically, brightest as seen from Earth (so relative magnitude).
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$\begingroup$ I assume you're discounting en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_1885A a supernova in M31 in the year 1885? $\endgroup$– user21Sep 29, 2015 at 13:28
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$\begingroup$ Yes, I am discounting supernovae. I am specifically wondering about stars Gaia could look at (so, ideally will be visible over a 5 year period). $\endgroup$– NeutronStarSep 29, 2015 at 17:26
1 Answer
The Variable stars that Hubble studied in M31 when he showed that it was a galaxy are among the most luminous. They include Var-A1, a luminous blue variable, and magnitude about 16.5. Var A-1 is one of the most luminous stars known.
Nasa has a catalog of stars in the m31 field, The brightest star in this catalog is an 11.4 magnitude star. But I think that database needs careful interpretation.