Star Antares

The star Antares, also called Alpha Scorpii, is the brightest star in the constellation of Scorpius. With an apparent brightness of 1.09 mag it is the 16th brightest star in the sky. Antares is often confused with Mars, because it has a similar color.

Facts about Antares

Antares is 10,000 times brighter than the Sun and is about 600 light years away from the earth. Compared to the Sun, Antares is about 769 times larger and has about 16 times the mass of the Sun, which makes Antares a very large star. The luminosity of Antares is 65,000 times bigger compared to the luminosity of the sun. Because of its large surface it radiates a lot of light, which is the reason why it shines so brightly in the earthly sky. Antares is a red supergiant that has almost completely developed and is gradually approaching the end of its existence. Because voluminous stars like Antares consume their fuel and thus their energy much too quickly, their existence is already over after a few million years.

Visibility of Antares

Especially in late spring and until early autumn, the star Antares can be seen well from the northern hemisphere, on the southern horizon. Especially around May 31st it should be clearly visible, because there it appears opposite to our Sun.