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What Type of Star is Antares?

Antares, the 15th-brightest star in the Milky Way, is a type of star known as a red supergiant. The large, red star can be easily confused for Mars, which is about the same size in the night sky. In fact, Antares -- or "Ant Ares" -- means "like Mars" in Greek. The God of War was know as Ares to the Greeks, and Mars to the Romans.

Huge Stars
- Red supergiants are the largest -- but not the most massive -- stars in the universe. Antares is about 800 times larger than the Sun, but the largest known red supergiants, including VY Canis Majoris, Mu Cephei, KW Sagitarii, V354 Cephei and KY Cygni, are all at least 1,500 times larger than the Sun.
Formation
- Red supergiants are formed when a star runs out of hydrogen fuel to burn in its core. The star's empty core then begins to collapse in on itself and heat up, causing the star's outer layers to cool and expand.
Star Death
- Compared to other stars, red supergiants have a short life. The star may only exist for a million years or less -- a short moment in cosmic time -- before dying in a spectacular way. By the end of the star's life, a red supergiant will have fused iron together in its core. Eventually, the core will collapse, detonating a supernova. This creates an explosive shock wave that blows off the outer layer of the star.
Viewing Antares
- The best time to view Antares is at the end of May each year when the star is opposite the sun. At this time of year, Antares will rise at dusk and stay in the sky all night until dawn. Antares is in the constellation Scorpius.

Astronomy