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I have seen many lists of stars with the most luminosity, mass, and temperature, but I have never seen one that is about absolute magnitude. So I'm wondering, which star has the lowest absolute magnitude (in other words, which star is the brightest when a viewer is 10 pc away)?

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    $\begingroup$ In which photometric band? Or are you just asking what is the most luminous star (known)? $\endgroup$
    – ProfRob
    Aug 16, 2020 at 22:18
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    $\begingroup$ I assume you're asking about brightness in the visible portion of the spectrum, i.e., ignoring ultraviolet, but you should clarify that in your question. I also assume you've seen this list: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_luminous_stars $\endgroup$
    – PM 2Ring
    Aug 17, 2020 at 13:12
  • $\begingroup$ For several decades S Doradus in the Large Magellanic Cloud was listed as the most luminous known star, and it was actually mentioned as the most luminous star in some classic works of science fiction set centuries or millennia in the future. But "science marches on" tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/main/sciencemarcheson and now "the great and glorious S Doradus" is only number 78 on this list en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_luminous_stars if I counted correctly. $\endgroup$ Aug 17, 2020 at 16:24
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    $\begingroup$ "lists of stars with the most luminosity" The star with the most luminosity is the one with lowest absolute magnitude. $\endgroup$
    – James K
    Jul 4, 2023 at 21:01
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    $\begingroup$ Going to close this question as it obviously lacked prior research. $\endgroup$
    – WarpPrime
    Jul 5, 2023 at 16:09

1 Answer 1

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The star with the lowest absoulete magnitute is called Godzilla with an absoulete magnitude under -14. I'm talking about the star, not the Japanese monster, the TV shows, the movies, or the games by that name. Some other records it holds:

  1. It is also the most luminous star known.
  2. It's also the farthest star known to be at 1 million Solar Luminousities or greater.
  3. Finally, it has the largest apparent visual magnitude as well.
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    $\begingroup$ I don't think your point #2 is true, actually. The star called Earendel is likely $>10^6\,L_\odot$ (which is an arbitrary threshold), maybe even $10^7\,L_\odot$, and is 1.5× farther away than "Godzilla". Your point #3 is definitely not true. Point #1 is of course true if indeed it has the lowest absolute magnitude. $\endgroup$
    – pela
    Jul 6, 2023 at 9:31

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