User:Nussun05/MY Cephei star

Note: Although it involves real details, this is a fictional article

An MY Cephei star, also known as a red hypergiant straggler, is a red star in a cluster of red supergiants appearing much cooler and much more luminous than the other stars. The star type was named after the red hypergiant MY Cephei in NGC 7419. As of today, only two confirmed MY Cep stars have been discovered, the other being Stephenson 2 DFK 1 of Stephenson 2.

Characteristics
MY Cep stars appear as late-type supergiants, typically later than M4. They are much cooler and more luminous than normal red supergiants, and appear exceptionally bright in mid-infrared bands. The stars often display water masers, reminiscent of red hypergiants. Because of their extremity, they are sometimes believed to be foreground giants, despite having motions consistent with cluster membership. This has known to sparked a lot of controversy.

Explanation
The true explanation behind these stars is not known, but the cause is generally believed to be intense mass loss events, similar to those seen for VY Canis Majoris. Our current stellar evolutionary models have yet to reproduce extreme stars like this.