▁star ▁is ▁almost ▁obsc ured ▁at ▁visible ▁w avel ength s ▁by ▁ext inction ▁of ▁around ▁ 1 3 ▁magn itudes ▁due ▁to ▁inter stell ar ▁dust , ▁hence ▁it ▁has ▁been ▁studied ▁extens ively ▁in ▁the ▁longer ▁inf ra red ▁to ▁radio ▁w avel ength s . ▁Its ▁spectral ▁type ▁ident ifies ▁it ▁a ▁red ▁star ▁with ▁a ▁high ▁lum inos ity . ▁The ▁bol ometric ▁lum inos ity ▁of ▁West er l und ▁ 1 - 2 6 ▁has ▁been ▁calculated ▁from ▁its ▁K - band ▁inf ra red ▁bright ness ▁to ▁be ▁between ▁ 3 2 0 , 0 0 0 ▁and ▁ 3 8 0 , 0 0 0 ▁times ▁higher ▁than ▁the ▁sun ' s ▁( ), ▁depending ▁on ▁the ▁spectral ▁type ▁between ▁M 2 ▁and ▁M 5 . ▁ ▁These ▁lum inos ities ▁imply ▁a ▁radius ▁between ▁ 1 , 5 3 0 ▁and ▁ 1 , 5 8 0 ▁times ▁the ▁Sun ' s ▁radius ▁() ▁based ▁on ▁effective ▁temper atures ▁of ▁ 3 , 4 5 0 ▁and ▁ 3 , 6 6 0 ▁K ▁for ▁spectral ▁types ▁M 5 ▁and ▁M 2 ▁respectively . ▁These ▁parameters ▁make ▁West er l und ▁ 1 - 2 6 ▁one ▁of ▁most ▁l umin ous ▁red ▁super gi ants ▁and ▁are ▁also ▁similar ▁to ▁those ▁estimated ▁for ▁another ▁notable ▁red ▁hyper gi ant ▁star , ▁V Y ▁Can is ▁Major is . ▁An ▁earlier ▁calculation ▁of ▁the ▁lum inos ity ▁by ▁fitting ▁the ▁spectral ▁energy ▁distribution ▁gave