V602 Carinae

V602 Carinae (V602 Car, HD 97671) is a variable star with a radius around 1,000 times the radius of the Sun. The red supergiant is in the constellation Carina and has a spectral class of M3. It is shining with over 100,000 times the luminosity of the Sun and is losing mass at the rate of 1.9 × 10⁻⁶ times the mass of the Sun per year. An excess of emission at long wavelengths from this star, as well as a small amount of silicate emission, suggests that it may be enclosed by an extensive cloud of dust.

V602 Car is a semiregular variable star with a maximum brightness range of magnitude 7.6 - 9.1 and a possible periods of 635 and 678 days. Despite the large amplitude of variation, it was only named as a variable star in 2006.