So, you're looking for UY Scuti. Maybe you saw a YouTube thumbnail with a red ball so big it makes our Sun look like a literal grain of sand. It’s a classic space-enthusiast rabbit hole. You start wondering where this thing is actually hiding and if you can see it with your own eyes tonight.
Honestly? Finding it is easy. Seeing it? That’s where things get kinda tricky.
UY Scuti is located in the constellation Scutum (the Shield). It sits roughly 9,500 light-years away from Earth, tucked into a very crowded, dusty neighborhood near the center of the Milky Way. If you're looking for it in 2026, you'll need to aim your gaze toward the southern sky during the summer months.
Where is UY Scuti in the Night Sky?
If you want to pin it down, you’ve gotta find the Scutum constellation first. It’s a small, faint constellation wedged between Aquila and Sagittarius. Most people find it by looking for the "Summer Triangle" and then panning down toward the "teapot" of Sagittarius.
UY Scuti is technically located just a few degrees north of the star Gamma Scuti. It’s also northeast of the famous Eagle Nebula. But here’s the reality check: you cannot see UY Scuti with the naked eye. Even though it is one of the most luminous stars we know of, it’s shrouded by the "Zone of Avoidance." This is basically a massive wall of cosmic dust and gas in the Cygnus Rift that blocks most of the star's visible light.
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To actually spot it, you'll need a decent telescope—at least 4 to 6 inches of aperture—and a very dark sky. It will look like a tiny, reddish-orange dot. It’s a bit of a letdown if you’re expecting a giant orb, but knowing that tiny dot could swallow Jupiter's orbit whole is what makes it cool.
Quick Celestial Coordinates (J2000)
- Right Ascension: 18h 27m 36.53s
- Declination: −12° 27′ 58.9″
- Apparent Magnitude: 8.29 to 10.56 (it’s a variable star, so it "pulses")
The "Largest Star" Drama of 2026
For a long time, UY Scuti was the undisputed heavyweight champion. The king. The G.O.A.T. of size. But astronomy moves fast.
Back in 2012, researchers using the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile estimated its radius at about 1,708 times that of the Sun. To put that in perspective, if you flew a Boeing 747 around its surface, the trip would take over 1,000 years.
But then Stephenson 2-18 entered the chat.
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For a few years, everyone thought Stephenson 2-18 was the new king, with some estimates putting it at 2,150 solar radii. However, by 2026, the scientific community has become a lot more skeptical. There’s a thing called the Hayashi Limit, which is basically a physical "no-fly zone" for star size. If a star gets too big and too cool, it becomes unstable. Many astronomers now believe the measurements for Stephenson 2-18 were slightly off because of distance errors in the Gaia data.
There’s also RSGC1-F01, another monster in Scutum that’s currently being studied.
The truth is, measuring the "edge" of a hypergiant star is like trying to find the edge of a fog bank. These stars are so puffed up and thin at the edges that their "surface" is more like a hazy atmosphere. UY Scuti might actually be smaller than we first thought—some 2023 and 2024 studies suggested it might only be around 900 solar radii. Still huge, but maybe not the heavyweight champion anymore.
Why UY Scuti is Basically a Dying Balloon
UY Scuti is a Red Hypergiant. It’s not just big; it’s bloated.
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Think of it like a star that’s running out of fuel and starting to panic. It has already burned through its hydrogen and is now fusing heavier elements. This process creates an incredible amount of outward pressure, which causes the outer layers to expand like a balloon.
Because it’s so stretched out, it’s actually quite "cool" for a star—around 3,300 Kelvin (about 5,500°F). Our Sun is a scorching 5,778 Kelvin by comparison. It’s also losing mass at a terrifying rate. The stellar winds coming off UY Scuti are so powerful they’re essentially blowing the star apart from the inside out.
How to Actually "See" It This Year
If you're serious about finding where UY Scuti is hiding, wait for July or August 2026. This is when the constellation Scutum is highest in the sky for Northern Hemisphere observers.
- Get a Star Chart App: Use something like Stellarium or SkySafari. Search for "UY Scuti" or its catalog name, BD-12 5055.
- Find the Milky Way: You need a dark site. If you can see the cloudy band of the Milky Way, you’re in the right place.
- Star Hop from Altair: Start at the bright star Altair in Aquila and move south toward the "Shield" of Scutum.
- Look for the Red Tint: Through a telescope, UY Scuti stands out because of its distinct ruby-red color compared to the white and blue stars around it.
It's a weird feeling, looking at a star that is essentially a ticking time bomb. Scientists expect UY Scuti to end its life in a supernova (or possibly a hypernova). When that happens, it’ll be bright enough to see during the day. Don't hold your breath, though—"soon" in cosmic terms means anywhere from next Tuesday to a million years from now.
Your Next Steps for Stargazing
- Check the Moon Phase: Don't try to find faint stars like UY Scuti during a Full Moon. Wait for the New Moon phase around August 12, 2026.
- Use Binoculars First: Even if you don't have a telescope, 10x50 binoculars can reveal the star under perfect conditions.
- Learn the Neighborhood: Finding UY Scuti is a great excuse to explore the Wild Duck Cluster (M11), which is nearby and looks stunning in almost any gear.