We've talked a few times on this list about the sheer size of the Sun. You could fit the Earth inside it a million times and still have room to spare. It takes an individual photon of light 170,000 years to get from its core to its outer edge. So what if we told you that, on a galactic scale, it's actually pretty feeble?
The largest star scientists are currently aware of is UY Scuti, which is 9,500 light years away and forms part of the constellation of Scutum. It is almost exactly 1,708 times larger than our own Sun. To give you an idea of what that means in terms of our Solar System, if you swapped out our Sun and put UY Scuti in its place, its outer edge would touch on the orbit of Saturn, and Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and Jupiter would be completely swallowed up inside it.
To insure one’s house, one’s car or to underwrite a life insurance policy, that is common practice. But who would pay an insurance premium for his/her thumb, legs or smile? Stars, of course.
At the top of the ranking are the legs of Mariah Carey, worth 810 million USD: The diva became, in 2006, the Gillette brand muse for the advertising campaign «Legs of a Goddess». She then took out an insurance policy with London Lloyds to protect her legs, a decision that is far from being insignificant. Among its customers, the London insurer then included several icons of music, such as Bob Dylan or Rod Stewart.
David Beckham’s body insured for 195 million USD: European champion with Manchester United in 1999, David Beckham was in 2006 the most renowned footballer of the planet. In relation to his sporting activities, he took out an insurance cover for his legs. The huge amount paid for his insurance would reportedly exceed the 103 million USD disbursed by Real Madrid for the cover of Christiano Ronaldo in 2009. The fashion model would later extend his insurance cover to his entire body.
15 million USD in insurance for Kim Kardashian’s curves: The curves of Kim Kardashian are her number one beauty asset. The reality TV star, who is crazy about plastic surgery, has underwritten an insurance policy worth 15 million USD to protect her famous butt.
The culinary critic Egon Ronay assured his taste buds: The famous Hungarian culinary critic has insured his taste buds since 1957, for the amount of 400 000 USD. An original insurance policy which allows him to cover his sense of taste without which he will no longer be able to practice his job.