⭐ Star
Pistol Star
One of the brightest stars known in our galaxy, hidden behind dust.
- Distance
- 25,000 light-years away
Did you know?
- It shines as brightly as about 10 million Suns.
- It sits close to the centre of the Milky Way, where dust hides it from ordinary telescopes, so Hubble had to look in infrared light.
Photographed or visited by
Hubble Space Telescope
Thirty-six years above the weather, and still working.
The life of a starA step in a star’s life: a huge, heavy star
More NASA photos of Pistol StarStraight from NASA’s image library, in the app
Explore more
All of deep space
The Sun
Our star, an ordinary one that keeps everything here alive.
Betelgeuse
A red supergiant in Orion that will one day explode.
Alpha Centauri
The closest star system to the Sun.
Eta Carinae
A pair of giant stars, one of them about 90 times heavier than the Sun.
Mira
A red giant star racing through space with a tail like a comet.
Zeta Ophiuchi
A runaway star, flung out when its partner exploded.