VY Canis Majoris is the largest star known to man at this point in time. It is a hypergiant, the largest classification of stars. VY Canis Majoris is approximately 2.8 BILLION kilometers in circumference. Earth is only 12,735 km, and it seems huge to us. Think of something the size hundreds of thousands of times larger than Earth, and it can be close to Canis Majoris. If Earth was the size of a chocolate chip, VY CMa would be close to the size of the school. VY Canis Majoris is one of the top 50 most luminous stars that we know of. VY CMa used to be thought of as part of a multiple star system, meaning multiple stars orbit around each other. Now, scientists have learned that it is a star by itself, not orbitting around others. VY CMa also is a variable star at the moment. It currently has varying light emitions, meaning the amount of light it gives off is changing. The cycle changes approximately every 2,200 days. 

The first known observation of VY CMa was in the star catalogue of Jerome Lalande. 

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