KW Sagittarii
KW Sagittarii is a red supergiant or hypergiant star, located approximately away from the Sun in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius. It is one of the largest known stars, with a diameter about 1,000 times larger than the Sun. If placed at the center of the Solar System, the star's surface would engulf Mars, coming close to Jupiter's orbit.
Variability
In 1942, Henrietta Hill Swope listed KW Sagittarii as a variable star. It varies erratically in brightness over a range of about two magnitudes. It is classified as a semiregular variable, although the listed period of 670 days is poorly defined. The peculiar cool spectrum has led to comparisons with symbiotic variables, but it is no longer considered to be a cataclysmic binary.Distance
A distance of 2,420 parsecs is based on the assumption of membership on the Sagittarius OB5 association. The parallax derived from the Hipparcos mission is negative so doesn't give much information about the distance except that it is likely to be large. The Gaia Data Release 2 parallax is and implies a distance of around. The Gaia result carries a significant statistical margin of error, as well as an indicator that the astrometric excess noise is far beyond acceptable levels so that the parallax should be considered unreliable. A 2021 study published a photogeometric distance of 2,159 pc to KW Sgr, using a parallax published by Gaia DR3.Characteristics
KW Sagittarii is classed as a dust-enshrouded luminous cool supergiant and varies its spectral type between M0 and M4. Sometimes described as a cool hypergiant, it is losing its mass at per year and is also found to be a confirmed maser source of masers. and OH masers around the star have been proposed, but neither have been detected.A 2005 study led by Levesque, using a MARCS model, calculated a high luminosity of for KW Sgr and consequently very large radius of based on the assumption of an effective temperature of at a distance of. The star was then described as among the four largest and most luminous galactic red supergiants, which includes V354 Cephei, KY Cygni and Mu Cephei. In 2011, its bolometric luminosity was re-measured to be at around based on the same distance.
More recently, the Sagittarius OB5 association was calculated to be somewhat closer than previously thought, which would suggest lower estimates for both the radius and luminosity of the star. Based on a distance of, its luminosity was calculated to be with a radius of around based on a measured angular diameter of. Its angular diameter was re-measured at in 2023.