At the center of our Solar System
lies the Sun. And at nearly 1.
4 million kilometers in diameter,
the Sun is pretty massive. Just
comparing it to everything else
in the Solar System, it is, quite
literally, astronomically gigantic.
But as we all know, this gigantic
star will very, very quickly become
comple...*aggressively clears throat*
Since the Sun is so tiny, it
makes one wonder what would happen
if another star were placed in
the center of our Solar System.
Whether the star be larger or smaller.
For example, Sirius A, the brightest
star in our sky (apart from the
Sun), would be a little less than
2 times larger than the Sun  but
mid day on Earth would be about
23 times brighter and the average
temperature would be about 370
degrees Celsius. For comparison,
the average temperature on Earth
with the Sun at the center of
the Solar System is only about
15 degrees Celsius.
What's quite shocking is that,
if the smallest star we know of
(who's name I will not state because...)
Anyway, despite this star being
smaller than our Sun, and literally
smaller than Jupiter and Saturn,
if this star were placed in the
center of our Solar System, noon
on Earth would still be about
3 times brighter than with the
Sun at the center. And the average
temperature on Earth would be
about 110 degrees Celsius.
But not all stars smaller than
our Sun would produce such results.
Our Solar System's closest neighbouring
star, Proxima Centauri, is about
twice the size  of EBLM J0555-57Ab
*aggressively clears throat*...
I thought I wasn't going to say that.
If Proxima Centauri were placed
in the center of our Solar System,
the average temperature on Earth
would be around -216 degrees Celsius,
which is about the temperature
on Neptune .
Mid day on Earth would be about
20,000 times dimmer. That's over
20 times  dimmer than noon on
Neptune with the Sun at the center
of the Solar System.
Pollux is a very large yet very
small star. It's diameter is about
5 times larger than that of Sirius
A (or about 9 times that of the Sun).
If Pollux were placed in the center
of the Solar System, noon on Earth
would be about 35 times brighter
and the average temperature would
be about 430 degrees Celsius.
That's nearly the temperature
on Venus, the hottest planet in
the Solar System!
Polaris is over 4 times larger
than Pollux  placing the surface
of the star about half way to
the orbit of Mercury! At this
incredible size, mid day on Earth
would be over 3000 times brighter
than with the Sun at the center
of the Solar System, and the average
temperature on Earth would be
over 1600 degrees Celsius! That's
hot enough to melt steel!
But, continuing on, Rigel is
over 2 times larger than Polaris
making it nearly 80 times larger
than the Sun and placing its surface
at the orbit of Mercury. At such
a massive size, mid day on Earth
would be nearly 300,000 times
brighter and the average temperature
on Earth would be over 6000 degrees Celsius!
That's hot enough to melt diamond!
But, Betelgeuse is significantly larger.
From the perspective of Earth,
Betelgeuse would... Uhhhhhh.......
Betelgeuse would engulf Mercury,
Venus, Earth, Mars, and the Asteroid
Belt, coming a mere 247 million
kilometers  shy of the orbit of Jupiter! ...
"A mere 247 million kilometers"? ...
Despite this star completely engulfing
half the Solar System, its surface
is still nearly 100 million kilometers
farther from Jupiter than the
Sun is from Earth!
Mid day on Jupiter would be
nearly 7000 times brighter than
mid day on Earth with the Sun
at the center of the Solar System.
The average temperature on Jupiter
would be nearly 4000 degrees Celsius,
compared to the typical -108
degrees Celsius when the Sun is
the star in the center of the
Solar System.
VY Canis Majoris is one of the
most commonly known stars because,
until recent years, it was the
largest star known. At about 1.
9 billion kilometers in diameter,
VY Canis Majoris is nearly twice
the size of Betelgeuse . If placed
in the center of the Solar System,
VY Canis Majoris would completely
engulf Jupiter's orbit, but its
surface would still lie nearly
450 million kilometers  from Saturn,
a distance far enough to fit
over 300  Suns!
The average temperature on Saturn
would rise to about 3500 degrees
Celsius, compared to the typical
-139 degrees Celsius. However,
as VY Canis Majoris would be
so far from Saturn, noon on Saturn
would only be about 18 times brighter
than a typical noon on Earth.
UY Scuti, the previous record
holder for the largest known star,
would only be about 17% larger
than VY Canis Majoris, but mid
day on Saturn would rise to be
nearly 10,000 times brighter than
a normal noon on Earth. And the
average temperature, would increase
to around 5,000 degrees Celsius!
And now the star we've all been
waiting for. The current record
holder for the largest known star,
Stephenson 2-18, with a diameter
over 2000 times larger than the
diameter of the Sun, would completely
engulf the orbit of Saturn and
its surface would only lie...over
1.3 billion kilometers from Uranus.
A star so gigantic that it completely
engulfs the first 6 planets of
the Solar System...would barely
even make it halfway  to the orbit
of Uranus.
But, despite this anticlimactic
star trying to destroy my video,
noon on Uranus would still be
over 3,000 times brighter than
a typical noon on Earth. And the
average temperature on Uranus
would be raised from about -197
degrees Celsius to over 2,000
degrees Celsius.
And just knowing the very unsettling
fact that Earth is sitting at
the center of this star being
completely incinerated at 30,000
degrees Celsius, I think it's
safe to say that our Solar System
was much better designed with
the Sun at the center, than with
the atrociously monstrous Stephenson 2-18.