R136a1, at about 7.2 million times the Sun's luminosity, tops the list; 11 stars appear because two tie at 4 million L☉.
R136a1 is the most luminous known star, at about 7,244,000 times the Sun's luminosity (L☉). R136a2 is second at 5,129,000 L☉ and BAT99-98 third at 5,012,000 L☉, a value it shares with two other stars. The ranking uses bolometric luminosity as given in Wikipedia's List of most luminous stars, read on 18 October 2026; the values are model-dependent estimates.
Bolometric luminosity is the total energy a star radiates across all wavelengths, expressed in multiples of the Sun's luminosity (L☉). The most luminous known stars are very massive Wolf-Rayet stars, O-type supergiants and luminous blue variables. This list takes its figures from a single compiled table, Wikipedia's 'List of most luminous stars' (stars of 1 million L☉ or more), which cites a published study for each star. Values for these stars are model-dependent and several have large or unstated uncertainties, flagged on each entry. The source table itself notes that it is incomplete.
The most luminous star in the source table, a Wolf-Rayet star in the R136 cluster at the heart of the Tarantula Nebula. Its 7,244,000 L☉ estimate comes from the 2022 HST/STIS analysis of R136 (Brands et al.), and is the only figure here clearly above 6 million.
R136a1's neighbour in the core of R136, another hydrogen-rich WN5h star. The same 2022 Brands et al. study puts it at 5,129,000 L☉.
A Wolf-Rayet star in NGC 2070 near R136, listed at 5,012,000 L☉. It shares that value with the next two entries; the source table gives no error bar for it.
A heavily dust-obscured star near the Milky Way's Galactic Center, observed in the infrared. Its 5,012,000 L☉ figure ties BAT99-98 and R136a3; no error bar is given.
The third of the very massive WN5h stars at the centre of R136, at 5,012,000 L☉ in the Brands et al. (2022) analysis.
A blue supergiant component in the Triangulum Galaxy, about 3 million light-years away, listed at 4,677,000 L☉ (Kourniotis et al., 2018). The source table gives no error bar.
A very hot O-type supergiant buried in the giant star-forming region W49. Its 4,365,000 L☉ estimate is the most uncertain on this list, with error bars of roughly 1.9 million and 3.4 million L☉.
A blue hypergiant in the Large Magellanic Cloud, listed at 4,169,000 L☉. The source table gives no error bar.
An O-type supergiant in the NGC 2074 region of the Large Magellanic Cloud, listed at 4,130,000 L☉. No error bar is given.
The primary of the Eta Carinae binary, a luminous blue variable famous for its 19th-century Great Eruption. The source table gives the primary 4,000,000 L☉, tied with V4998 Sagittarii.
A luminous blue variable near the Quintuplet Cluster close to the Galactic Center, listed at 4,000,000 L☉ - tied with Eta Carinae A, so both are kept and this list has 11 entries.
| # | Name | Location | Distance (ly) | Spectral type | Stated error bars (L☉) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | R136a1 | R136 cluster, Large Magellanic Cloud | 163,000 | WN5h | 699,000 and 1,078,000 (asymmetric) |
| 2 | R136a2 | R136 cluster, Large Magellanic Cloud | 163,000 | WN5h | 367,000 and 342,000 (asymmetric) |
| 3 | BAT99-98 | NGC 2070, Large Magellanic Cloud | 165,000 | WN6 | none given |
| 4 | G0.238-0.071 | Galactic Center, Milky Way | 26,000 | WN11h | none given |
| 5 | R136a3 | R136 cluster, Large Magellanic Cloud | 163,000 | WN5h | 236,000 and 226,000 (asymmetric) |
| 6 | M33-013406.63 A | Triangulum Galaxy (M33) | 3,000,000 | O9.5Ia | none given |
| 7 | Westerhout 49-2 | W49 South, Milky Way | 36,200 | O2-3.5If* | 3,397,000 and 1,910,000 (asymmetric) |
| 8 | HD 37836 | Large Magellanic Cloud | 163,000 | B0Iae | none given |
| 9 | Sk -69° 249 A | NGC 2074, Large Magellanic Cloud | 160,000 | O7If | none given |
| 10 | Eta Carinae A | Trumpler 16, Carina Nebula, Milky Way | 7,500 | LBV | none given |
| 11 | V4998 Sagittarii | Near the Quintuplet Cluster, Milky Way | 25,000 | LBV | none given |
Ranked by bolometric luminosity (L☉) exactly as given in the 'Stars with 1 million L☉ or greater' table of Wikipedia's List of most luminous stars (read 2026-10-18); each value traces to the study that table cites (listed in sources). One table is used for every star so that values are not mixed across compilations. Equal values are true ties and are listed in the source table's order: three stars share 5,012,000 L☉, and Eta Carinae A and V4998 Sagittarii share 4,000,000 L☉, so both are kept and the list has 11 entries. Error bars are shown where the source table gives them (asymmetric; direction not restated here); where it gives none, the figure should be read as an estimate. Stars known only through extreme gravitational lensing (such as 'Godzilla' in the Sunburst galaxy) are not in the table and are not ranked.
R136a1 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, at about 7,244,000 L☉ according to Brands et al. (2022), as listed in the source table. It is the only star in that table above 6 million L☉.
Bolometric luminosity is the total energy a star emits per second across all wavelengths. Apparent brightness is how bright it looks from Earth, which also depends on distance and on dust along the line of sight. R136a1 is millions of times more luminous than the Sun but, at about 163,000 light-years, it is far too faint to see without a telescope.
Luminosity is not measured directly. It is derived from observed brightness, distance, dust extinction and stellar-atmosphere models, and each step adds uncertainty. Studies using different models or distances can disagree by tens of percent, which is why this list uses one compiled table and shows the stated error bars.
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