Red supergiants are supergiant stars of spectral type K-M and a luminosity class of I.
They are the largest stars in the universe in terms of physical size, although they are not the most massive.
Stars with more than about 10 solar masses, after burning their hydrogen become red supergiants during their helium-burning phase.
These stars have very cool surface temperatures (3500-4500 K), and enormous radii.
The four largest known red supergiants in the Galaxy are Mu Cephei, KW Sagitarii, V354 Cephei, and KY Cygni, which all have radii about 1500 times that of the sun (about 7 astronomical units, or 7 times as far as the Earth is from the sun).
The radius of most red giants is between 200 and 800 times that of the sun, which is still enough to reach from the sun to Earth and beyond.
Where a star ends up at the end of its life depends on the mass it was born with. Stars that have a lot of mass may end their lives as black holes or neutron stars. A low or medium mass star (with mass less than about 8 times the mass of our Sun) will become a white dwarf. A typical white dwarf is about as massive as the Sun, yet only slightly bigger than the Earth. This makes white dwarfs one of the densest forms of matter, surpassed only by neutron stars and black holes.
Red supergiant star
SvarSletRed supergiants are supergiant stars of spectral type K-M and a luminosity class of I.
They are the largest stars in the universe in terms of physical size, although they are not the most massive.
Stars with more than about 10 solar masses, after burning their hydrogen become red supergiants during their helium-burning phase.
These stars have very cool surface temperatures (3500-4500 K), and enormous radii.
The four largest known red supergiants in the Galaxy are Mu Cephei, KW Sagitarii, V354 Cephei, and KY Cygni, which all have radii about 1500 times that of the sun (about 7 astronomical units, or 7 times as far as the Earth is from the sun).
The radius of most red giants is between 200 and 800 times that of the sun, which is still enough to reach from the sun to Earth and beyond.
White Dwarfs
SvarSletWhere do White Dwarfs Come From?
Where a star ends up at the end of its life depends on the mass it was born with. Stars that have a lot of mass may end their lives as black holes or neutron stars. A low or medium mass star (with mass less than about 8 times the mass of our Sun) will become a white dwarf. A typical white dwarf is about as massive as the Sun, yet only slightly bigger than the Earth. This makes white dwarfs one of the densest forms of matter, surpassed only by neutron stars and black holes.