  The luminosity of the famous red supergiant VY CMa (L ~ 4 - 5 x 10e5 Lsun) is
well-determined from its spectral energy distribution and distance, and places
it near the empirical upper luminosity limit for cool hypergiants. In contrast,
its surface temperature is fundamentally ill-defined. Both contradict a recent
paper by Massey, Levesque and Plez (2006). Implications for its location on the
HR Diagram and its apparent size are discussed.
