Red supergiant

stars with a supergiant luminosity class

A red supergiant (RSG) is a larger and brighter type of red giant star. Red supergiants are often variable stars. They are between 100 to 1,600 times bigger than the Sun. Examples of a red supergiant star include Antares, 119 Tauri, Betelgeuse, Epsilon Pegasi, and VV Cephei A. Most red supergiant stars explode as supernovae. Some of the brightest become Wolf-Rayet stars before they explode.[1]

VX Sagittarii is a red supergiant star.


Red supergiants are stars are some of the brightest stars. They are also the largest stars in the universe. Betelgeuse and Antares are the brightest and best known red supergiants. They are also the only first magnitude red supergiant stars.

References change

  1. Meynet, G.; Chomienne, V.; Ekström, S.; Georgy, C.; Granada, A.; Groh, J.; Maeder, A.; Eggenberger, P.; Levesque, E.; Massey, P. (March 2015). "Impact of mass-loss on the evolution and pre-supernova properties of red supergiants". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 575: A60. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201424671. ISSN 0004-6361.