giant stars
Enormous luminous spheres
Giant stars are stars that have exhausted the hydrogen fuel in their cores and expanded dramatically, becoming far larger and more luminous than they were during their main sequence phase.
The sun will eventually become a giant star.
Giants are classified by color—red giants, blue giants—reflecting their surface temperatures.
Most visible stars in the night sky are giants, their brightness making them visible despite vast distances.
Size or scale
- BetelgeuseRed supergiant star
- ArcturusBright star in Boötes
- AldebaranOrange giant in Taurus
- AntaresRed supergiant in Scorpius
Rigel · Polaris · Deneb · Mira · blue supergiant · red supergiant · supergiant · hypergiant
Huge luminous evolved star
- core collapseStar's center caves inward
- planetary nebulaIonized gas from dying star
- white dwarfExhausted star's compact corpse
- black holeCollapsed star's remnant
stellar wind · mass loss · convection · instability · pulsation · progenitor · endpoint
Extremely large and heavy
- enormousExtremely large in scale
- expandedMade larger or wider
- swollenAbnormally enlarged
- bloatedSwelled from excess
engulfing · astronomical unit · vast · immense · distended · inflated · gargantuan
Degree of light emitted
- radianceGlowing luminous quality
- magnitudeSize or scale
- luminousEmitting or reflecting light
- irradianceIncident power per area
energy output · photons · beacon · outshining · brilliant
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- photosphereStar's light-emitting surface
- chromosphereStellar atmospheric zone
- coronaStar's outermost atmosphere
- coreCentral essential portion
Atomic core formation process
- nuclear reactionAtoms changing their cores
- energy generationProducing usable power
- iron coreCentral metallic magnetic component
magnitude
Size or scale
- BetelgeuseRed supergiant star
- ArcturusBright star in Boötes
- AldebaranOrange giant in Taurus
Antares · Rigel · Polaris · Deneb · Mira · blue supergiant · red supergiant · supergiant · hypergiant
supergiant
Huge luminous evolved star
- core collapseStar's center caves inward
- planetary nebulaIonized gas from dying star
- white dwarfExhausted star's compact corpse
black hole · stellar wind · mass loss · convection · instability · pulsation · progenitor · endpoint
massive
Extremely large and heavy
bloated · engulfing · astronomical unit · vast · immense · distended · inflated · gargantuan
brightness
Degree of light emitted
irradiance · energy output · photons · beacon · outshining · brilliant
envelope
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- photosphereStar's light-emitting surface
- chromosphereStellar atmospheric zone
- coronaStar's outermost atmosphere
core · stellar wind · bloated · diffuse
nucleosynthesis
Atomic core formation process
- nuclear reactionAtoms changing their cores
- energy generationProducing usable power
- iron coreCentral metallic magnetic component
- Stellar Astronomystellar populations, white dwarfs, dwarf stars, young stars, Cepheid variables
- galaxy partsgalactic core, spiral arms, galactic center, spiral arm, nucleus
giant starsdwarf stars
Small, dim stellar bodies
white dwarfs · red dwarfs · yellow dwarfs · brown dwarfs · neutron stars
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