Star
A red supergiant so large that, like Betelgeuse, it could engulf the orbit of Mars if placed at the center of the solar system.
| Type | Star |
|---|---|
| Distance from Earth | 550 ly |
| Diameter | 946,000,000 km |
| Mass | 2.39 × 10³¹ kg |
| Temperature | 3,387°C |
| Apparent magnitude | 1.06 |
| Redshift | 0 |
| Hemisphere | Southern |
| Discovered | 150 |
Stars spend most of their lives fusing hydrogen into helium in their core, and it's the balance between that outward pressure and gravity pulling inward that fixes how big and how bright a star gets.
At 946,000,000 km across, Antares is 679 times the diameter of the Sun.
Its mass is 12 times the mass of the Sun.
The light reaching us from Antares tonight left it around 550 years ago.
Its surface sits at 3,660 K, cooler than the Sun at 5,772 K, which is what sets its colour.
It has been on record since the year 150.
Play today's Cosmodle