If you look south south west in the early evening in the late summer early fall you will see Antares, the 15th brightest star in the skies. Antares is a bright red star located in the “heart” of the constellation Scorpious the Scorpion, a fishhook shaped constellation. Antares is Greek for “Mars rival” the Greek god of war. Both are red and every few years Mars passes near Antares which lies over 600 light years away. The light we see tonight left Antares around 1400 AD.
Antares is a giagantic red supergiant star. If Antares were to replace our Sun its outer surface would reach past the orbit of Mars totally engulfing the Earth.
Astronomers classify Antares as an M1 supergiant due to its reddish color which means its surface temperature is cooler than most stars at 5800 degrees F. while or Sun’s surface temperature is a warmer 10,000 degrees F.
Compared to our small Sun, giant Antares emits 60,000 times more energy than our Sun. Because of its size and energy output its life span is much shorter than our Sun. When it uses up its fuel its core will collapse and it will end its life as a brilliant supernova. No one knows when it will to supernovae. It could happen any time between now and a million years from now. When Antares goes supernova it will be a spectacular event as seen from Earth.
This evening around 9 pm let the moon be your guide to finding Antares. The first quarter moon will be above Antares in the head of the Scorpion. On Wednesday evening Antares will be at the lower right of the Moon.
