The Pistol Star is one of the most luminous known stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. Early reports suggeste that it might be the most extreme known star, producing almost 10 million times as much power as the Sun. Later studies, however, have reduced this number to roughly 1.7 million, making it one-third as luminous as the binary star system Eta Carinae. The Pistol Star radiates about as much energy in 20 seconds as the Sun does in a year. Objects in this class have 80 to 150 times the mass of the Sun and "lifetimes" of about 3 million years. Unlike ordinary stars, they are strongly affected by outward pressure of the light that they emit.