VY Canis Majoris
29 Mar 2016Thelan
It is said that VY Canis Majoris is the greatest known star in our galaxy. It is. Well, at least it's certainly the biggest star I've ever seen; Betelgeuse and EZ Orionis don't come even close.
Jump in puts you at 6000 LS from this bloated monstrosity. At 5300 LS, you can scoop fuel while admiring the side view of distant Barnard's Loop partially immersed in the corona.
But, unfortunately, there's nothing in the system except the giant star and its distant brown dwarf companion. If VY Canis Majoris ever had planets at some point in its history, it had swallowed them all. So no scenic postcard shots like the ones tourists send from Betelgeuse, with huge star looming over the scorched horizon; nothing.
Bye, VY Canis Majoris. I hope you don't explode within the next hundred thousand years, at least.