Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Definition
Giants are stars with significantly larger radii and luminosities compared to main-sequence stars of the same temperature. They have expanded outer layers and a more diffuse structure, often resulting from the exhaustion of hydrogen in their cores.
5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test
Giants can be classified into subcategories such as red giants and blue giants based on their temperatures and colors.
The expansion into a giant phase occurs when a star exhausts the hydrogen in its core, causing it to burn helium or heavier elements.
Spectra of giant stars show strong absorption lines, which help determine their chemical composition and surface gravity.
The luminosity of giant stars can be hundreds to thousands of times greater than that of the Sun.
Giant stars play a crucial role in enriching the interstellar medium with heavy elements through stellar winds and supernova explosions.
An extremely large and luminous star, much bigger than a giant, often marking the final evolutionary stages before becoming a supernova or collapsing into a black hole.