Orion, the celestial hunter, is a realm of supergiants. The constellation’s seven brightest stars are all either current or future supergiants. Such stars are much bigger and heavier than the Sun, and thousands to hundreds of thousands times brighter. And all are destined to explode as supernovas. The massive stars include orange Betelgeuse at the top left corner, blue-white Rigel at the lower right, and the three stars of Orion’s Belt, which slash across the center of the image. This image also reveals vast clouds of gas and dust that are giving birth to new stars, perhaps including more supergiants. [Mouser/Wikipedia]
Find out more in our radio program entitled Land of the Supergiants.