Changes

==Properties and Structure==

==Properties and Structure==

Zeta Puppis is a blue [[supergiant]] star of spectral class O5IAf, making it one of the hottest stars in the [[Milky Way|galaxy]] with a surface temperature of 42,400 K (in comparison, the [[Sun]] has a surface temperature of 5,780 K).<ref>Lamers & Cassinelli 1999, accurate to 200 K</ref>  The star’s mass is 22.5 times that of our Sun, and 14 times its diameter.<ref name=constellation-guide/> However there is large uncertainty in these measurements due to an uncertainty in the stars distance, so some put these higher at a mass of 40 solar masses.

Zeta Puppis is a blue [[supergiant]] star of spectral class O5IAf, making it one of the hottest stars in the [[Milky Way|galaxy]] with a surface temperature of 42,400 K (in comparison, the [[Sun]] has a surface temperature of 5,780 K).<ref>Lamers & Cassinelli 1999, accurate to 200 K</ref>  The star’s mass is 22.5 times that of our Sun, and 14 times its diameter.<ref name=constellation-guide/> However, there is large uncertainty in these measurements due to an uncertainty in the stars distance, so some put these higher at a mass of 40 solar masses.

Since Zeta Puppis is an exceptionally large class O [[supergiant]], it is one of the brightest stars in the [[Milky Way|galaxy]] in terms of absolute magnitude, at -5.96. The star is 21,000 times as luminous as our Sun visually.  However, because it is a class O blue star, most of the radiation from the star is in the [[ultraviolet]]. When this is considered, the star is 790,000 times more luminous then the [[Sun]] overall.

Since Zeta Puppis is an exceptionally large class O [[supergiant]], it is one of the brightest stars in the [[Milky Way|galaxy]] in terms of absolute magnitude, at -5.96. The star is 21,000 times as luminous as our Sun visually.  However, because it is a class O blue star, most of the radiation from the star is in the [[ultraviolet]]. When this is considered, the star is 790,000 times more luminous then the [[Sun]] overall.