THE star R Doradus has broken Betelgeuse's 75-year record as the largest star in the sky as seen from the Earth. A team of researchers measured the diameter of the star using telescopes in Chile and Australia.
R Doradus is a red giant nearing the end of its life, and is 180 times as bright as the Sun. Its diameter is more than 250 million kilometres, about 370 times that of the Sun. This is far smaller than Betelgeuse, a supergiant star in Orion. But because R Doradus lies much closer to the Earth, it appears to be larger. The team's results will be published in
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