Red Supergiant

Red supergiants are truly colossal stellar behemoths – the largest stars in the universe by volume. These evolved massive stars, originally born with at least 8 times our Sun's mass, have expanded to extraordinary dimensions during their final evolutionary phase. Their radii can stretch 1,000-1,500 times larger than the Sun, meaning some could engulf the entire orbit of Jupiter if placed in our solar system.</p><p>Despite their immense size, red supergiants have relatively cool surface temperatures of 3,000-4,500 Kelvin, giving them their characteristic reddish hue. This cooling occurs as the star's outer layers expand dramatically while the core contracts and heats up, fusing increasingly heavy elements in a desperate attempt to maintain stability.</p><p>The most famous red supergiant is Betelgeuse in Orion's shoulder, spanning roughly 700 solar radii and visible to the naked eye despite being 700 light-years away. Another giant, Antares in Scorpius, appears distinctly red even in modest telescopes. VY Canis Majoris represents an extreme example, with a radius approximately 1,420 times our Sun's.</p><p>These stellar giants are destined for spectacular ends – within a few million years, they'll exhaust their nuclear fuel and explode as supernovae, forging and dispersing heavy elements essential for planet formation and life itself throughout the cosmos.