[No Browser Tables]Through this page you can access information on several astronomical records (biggest, smallest, furthest, etcetera). Summary information is listed on this page, and more information on linked pages. It is probably not up to date for many records. If you have more current information or have your own record information, then let me know at mr-sunspot@sunspot.noao.edu.
| Record | Star | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Nearest | alpha Centauri | 4.3 ly |
| Intrinsically Brightest | (several) | -8.5 |
| Intrinsically Faintest | Luyten 2924 | 19.5 |
| Hottest Star | zeta Puppis | spectrum O5.8 |
| Coolest Star | (several) | spectrum M5 |
| Farthest Visible Star | s Carinae | 3600 pc |
| Biggest Radius | R Cassiopeiae | 1800 Rsun |
| Biggest Angular Diameter | R Leonis | 60 mas |
| Heaviest Star | HD 93250 | 120 Msun |
| Heaviest White Dwarf | Sirius B | 0.98 Msun |
| Lightest Star | Luyten 726-8B | 0.04 Msun |
| Visually Brightest | Sirius | -1.4 |
| Record | Star | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Shortest Period Mira | SS Her | 107 days |
| Longest Period Mira | VX Sgr | 732 days |
| Visually Brightest Mira | omicron Cet | 1.7 |
| Shortest Period Cepheid | SU Cas | 1.9 days |
| Longest Period Cepheid | SV Vul | 45.04 days |
| Visually Brightest Cepheid | eta Aql | 3.4 |
| Record | Crater | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Biggest Diameter on Earth | Sudbury, Ontario | 140 km |
| Biggest Lunar Mare Diameter | Oceanus Procellarum | 3200 km |
| Biggest Diameter on Moon | Apollo | 503 km |
| Record | Planet | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Greatest equatorial radius | Jupiter | 71492 km |
| Smallest equatorial radius | Pluto | 1123 ± 20 km |
| Densest | Earth | 5.52 g/cm^3 |
| Least dense | Saturn | 0.71 g/cm^3 |
| Strongest surface gravity | Jupiter | 23.12 m/s^2 |
| Least surface gravity | Pluto | 0.66 m/s^2 |
| Most flattening | Saturn | 0.108 |
| Record | Moon | Planet | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biggest radius | Ganymede | Jupiter | 2631 km |
| Furthest from planet center | Sinope | Jupiter | 23,700,000 km |
| Closest to planet center | Phobos | Mars | 9370 km |
| Longest orbital period | Sinope | Jupiter | 758 days |
| Shortest orbital period | Adrastea | Saturn | 0.295 days |
| Densest moon | Io | Jupiter | 3.55 g/cm^3 |
| Greatest albedo | Europa | Jupiter | 0.64 |
| Record | Cluster | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Closest globular cluster | M 4 | 1.9 kpc |
| Furthest globular cluster | C0354-498 | 112.3 kpc |
| Globular cluster with most stars | omega Centauri | 1,860,000 |
| Globular cluster with least stars | C1353-269 | 1,000 |
| Visually brightest globular cluster | omega Centauri | 3.52: |
| Intrinsically brightest globular cluster | omega Centauri | -10.30: |
| Most massive open cluster | IC 1805 | 646 Msun |
| Keast massive open cluster | NGC 6716 | 40 Msun |
| Nearest open cluster | Collinder 285 | 20 pc |
| Farthest open cluster | Berkeley 21 | 15 kpc |
| Integrated brightest open cluster | Collinder 70 | 0.4 |
| Open cluster with visually brightest star | Collinder 285 | 2.0 |
| Biggest open cluster | Dolidze 25 | 18.1 pc |
| Smallest open cluster | (several) | 0.3 pc |
| Oldest open cluster | NGC 6791 | 7100 million years |
| Youngest open cluster | (several) | 1 million years |
| Most massive OB association | Sgr OB5 | 8614 Msun |
| Leat massive OB association | Cas OB4 | 237 Msun |
| Biggest OB association | Cas OB6 | 158 pc |
| Smallest OB association | Cyg OB2 | 8 pc |
| Closest OB association | Sco OB2 | 160 pc |
| Farthest OB association | Cep OB1 | 3.5 kpc |
| Oldest OB association | Upper Cen-Lup | 10-20 million years |
| Youngest OB association | Mon OB2 | 1 million years |
| Record | Galaxy (cluster) | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Visually brightest spiral galaxy | M31 | < 6 |
| Visually brightest elliptical galaxy | M49 | 8.6 |
| Visually brightest irregular galaxy | Large Magellanic Cloud | 0.1 |
| Nearest galaxy | Sagittarius dwarf | 24 kpc |
| Nearest galaxy group | G 1 - Sculptor | 2.4 Mpc |
Miscellaneous
The person with the most comet finds is Carolyn S. Shoemaker, who has found 32 so far. [ST April 1997]
The greatest temperature ever measured is 48 billion Kelvin, in measurements of neutrinos coming from Supernova 1987 A. [CAA 286]
The biggest single-element telescope mirrors ever built are the 8.4-meter mirror for the Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona (1997) and the 8.3-meter mirror for the Subaru Telescope (1993). [ST April 1997]
The visually brightest supernova remnant is M1 (the Crab Nebula) in Taurus, which has an apparent magnitude of 8.4.
The brightest cloud complexes are the Tarantula Nebula (NGC 2070) in Doradus, the Rosetta Nebula (NGC 2237-9) in Monoceros, and the Orion Nebula (M42-3) in Orion.
The solar system object with the most eccentric orbit is Voyager 2, whose current trajectory has an eccentricity of 6.29.
| Object | z | Method | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 Hubble Deep Field objects | >5 | broad-band photometry | ST September 1996 |
| behind CL 1358+62 | 4.92 | Keck spectroscopy | APOD 31 July 1997 |
The tallest mountain in the Solar System is Olympus Mons on Mars, which is almost 27 kilometers high.
Sources
Abbreviation Source AD "Astrophysical Data: Planets and Stars", Kenneth R. Lang CAA "Cambridge Atlas of Astronomy" GBA "Het Groot Guinness Astronomieboek", Patrick Moore / Govert Schilling (1984) NP Nine Planets Web Site ST Sky & Telescope magazine