IC 1101 is a giant lenticular galaxy at the center of the Abell 2029 galaxy cluster. It is 1.07 billion light years away in the constellation of Serpens. The galaxy has a diameter of 5-6 million light years, which makes it currently (2009) the largest known galaxy in terms of breadth.
Stars may live 13 billion years before they begin to die. If the star is larger than our sun death may involve an incredible expansion, becoming a Red Giant, or, conversely, a star closer in size to our sun may shrivel up like a burnt out coal and become a "white dwarf," "Brown dwarf," neutron star, or... A Red Giant eats its planets, and sometimes neighboring stars before exploding, seeding the universe with new stars and the material to form new planets.
Vid and Info:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm9_gpGF3Xw&feature=related
Tribute video to the famous red supergiant star Betelgeuse. Features a surface video and a picture of the spectacular supernova explosion.
When it explodes, it may become a Pulsar surrounded by a big nebula.
Vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl-oR7hTTYY&feature=related
This is the ultimate size comparison video that you can find on the internet in HD.
Starts with the tinyest dwarf planets of our solar system, then continues with large planets, dwarf stars, stars giant/supergiant/hypergiant stars, nebulae, globular clusters and galaxies.
There is the famous VY Canis Majoris rated as the biggest star known, but very few know that that the incredible IC 1101 is the largest known object in the entire universe. Only galaxy clusters are bigger than it.
Hope you enjoy this one.
Vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FwCMnyWZDg&fmt=22&annotation_id=annotation_902471&feature=iv
Topic: Largest 2009 Galaxy in the Universe|Red Giant Sun|Betelguese|Sizes (Read 7162 times)