Antares
Star in the constellation Scorpio Greek for “Rival of Mars” or “Rival of
Ares” Antares is sometimes mistaken for
Mars when they’re close because they’re both red
Mars and Antares actually conjunct every two years
Importance
One of the biggest stars ever known Brightest star in the constellation
Scorpio 16th brightest star in the night sky One of the four brightest stars in the
ecliptic
Star Type
Red supergiant with a surface temperature of about 3500 kelvins
Like other red supergiants, it lies in a red cloud, this one measuring 5 light years in diameter
Red cloud is made of metallic dust, not gas
Member of the M1 spectral class
Size
300 times the size of the sun More than twice the diameter of
Earth’s orbit If placed in our solar system, it would
cover all the inner planets and extend well into the asteroid belt
Brightness
Even though it’s bigger than the sun, it’s much cooler
Its size gives it its brightness; the bigger the star, the bigger amount of area it radiates light
3000 times the sun’s luminosity
Death
Antares is close to the end of its lifetime The implosion of a star 15-18 times
bigger than the mass of our sun will cause a huge supernova explosion
This will ultimately leave either a tiny neutron star, or a black hole
Scientists don’t have an exact death date, but, when in fact it comes, people will be able to watch this star death without being at risk
Video
http://video.answers.com/supernova-and-death-of-a-star-516907872
History and Myth
In Greek mythology, Antares was known as the anti-Mars
It was considered to be Mars’ rival Known better in ancient times as
“The Heart of the Scorpion”
Citations
www.windows2universe.org www.earthsky.org www.souledout.org www.bing.com www.video.answers.com