- Supergiant
Supergiants are among the most massive
star s. In theHertzsprung-Russell diagram they occupy the top region of the diagram. In the Yerkes spectral classification supergiants are class Ia (most luminous supergiants) or Ib (less luminous supergiants). They typically have bolometricabsolute magnitude s between -5 and -12. The most luminous supergiants are often classified ashypergiant s of class 0.Supergiants can have masses from 10 to 70 solar masses and brightness from 30,000 up to hundreds of thousands times the solar
luminosity . They vary greatly in radii, usually from 30 to 500, or even in excess of 1000 solar radii. TheStefan-Boltzmann law dictates that the relatively cool surfaces of red supergiants radiate much less energy per unit area than those of blue supergiants; thus, for a given luminosity red supergiants are larger than their blue counterparts.Because of their extreme masses they have short lifespans of 30 million years down to a few hundred thousand years (by the equation "M" - 2.5 × 1010 where "M" = mass in sols) [cite web
last = Richmond | first = Michael
url = http://spiff.rit.edu/classes/phys230/lectures/star_age/star_age.html
title = Stellar evolution on the main sequence
accessdate = 2006-08-24 ] . They are mainly observed in young galactic structures such asopen cluster s, the arms of spiral galaxies, and in irregular galaxies. They are less abundant in spiral galaxy bulges, and are rarely observed in elliptical galaxies, orglobular cluster s, which are believed to be composed of old stars.Supergiants occur in every spectral class from young blue class O supergiants stars to highly evolved red class M supergiants.
Rigel , the brightest star in theconstellation Orion is a typical blue-white supergiant, whereasBetelgeuse andAntares arered supergiant s.The modelling of supergiants is still an active area of research and is made more difficult by issues such as
stellar mass loss . Rather than modelling individual stars, the latest trend has been to model clusters of stars and then compare the distribution of the resulting models with the observed supergiant distributions in galaxies like theMagellanic Clouds .The first stars in the
universe are thought to have been considerably brighter and more massive than the stars in the modern universe. These stars were part of the theorizedpopulation III of stars. Their existence is necessary to explain observations of elements other thanhydrogen andhelium inquasar s.Most type II
supernova progenitors are thought to be red supergiants. However, the progenitor forSupernova 1987A was ablue supergiant . It is believed that it was a red supergiant before losing its outer layers to its strongstellar wind .Currently, the largest known stars in terms of physical size, not mass, brightness or luminosity, are the supergiants
VY Canis Majoris ,VV Cephei ,V354 Cephei ,KW Sagitarii ,KY Cygni , and μ Cephei (the Garnet Star).ee also
*
Giant star
*Red giant
*Red supergiant
*Blue supergiant
*Hypergiants
*List of stellar angular diameters References
*cite book|first=Piero (editor)|last=Tempesti|title=Enciclopedia dell'Astronomia|publisher=Curcio|year=1979
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См. также в других словарях:
supergiant — [so͞o′pər jī΄ənt] n. an immense and extremely luminous star, as Betelgeuse or Antares, that has a diameter at least 100 times that of the sun and that is 100 to more than 10,000 times as bright … English World dictionary
supergiant — noun Date: 1926 something that is extremely large; especially a star of very great intrinsic luminosity and enormous size • supergiant adjective … New Collegiate Dictionary
supergiant — /sooh peuhr juy euhnt/, n. 1. Astron. See supergiant star. 2. an extremely large or powerful person, company, thing, etc. adj. 3. extremely large; immense. [1925 30; SUPER + GIANT] * * * … Universalium
supergiant — noun A very large star having a mass between 10 and 70 solar masses … Wiktionary
supergiant — adj. especially bright star whose diameter is 100 times larger than that of the sun (Astronomy) … English contemporary dictionary
supergiant — noun Astronomy a star that is greater and more luminous than a giant … English new terms dictionary
supergiant — su·per·giant … English syllables
supergiant — su•per•gi•ant [[t]ˈsu pərˌdʒaɪ ənt[/t]] n. astron. a very bright, very large star, hundreds of times larger than the sun • Etymology: 1925–30 … From formal English to slang
supergiant — /ˈsupədʒaɪənt/ (say soohpuhjuyuhnt) noun any of a number of very large, highly luminous, low density stars, as Betelgeuse or Antares … Australian English dictionary
Supergiant — The largest type of Red Stars. These stars have diameters over 400 times larger than that of our Sun, but they are not very dense, maybe only 40 times more than our Sun … The writer's dictionary of science fiction, fantasy, horror and mythology