Library / English Dictionary

SUPERGIANT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

An extremely bright star of very large diameter and low density

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("supergiant" is a kind of...):

star ((astronomy) a celestial body of hot gases that radiates energy derived from thermonuclear reactions in the interior)

Instance hyponyms:

Alpha Orionis; Betelgeuse (the second brightest star in Orion)

Canopus (supergiant star 650 light years from Earth; second brightest star in the sky)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have captured the unprecedented dimming of Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star in the constellation of Orion.

(ESO Telescope Sees Surface of Dim Betelgeuse, ESO)

The stunning new images of the star’s surface show not only the fading red supergiant but also how its apparent shape is changing.

(ESO Telescope Sees Surface of Dim Betelgeuse, ESO)

The phrase ‘we are all made of stardust’ is one we hear a lot in popular astronomy, but where exactly does this dust come from? says Emily Cannon, a PhD student at KU Leuven working with SPHERE images of red supergiants.

(ESO Telescope Sees Surface of Dim Betelgeuse, ESO)