Blue supergiant

A very luminous, hot, massive star with a blue or blue-white surface, usually classified in luminosity class I. Its high luminosity reflects a large radius as well as a high surface temperature.

Stellar classification: A system for describing stars by their spectra, surface temperature, and luminosity. Blue supergiants combine hot spectral types with luminosity class I.
Hydrostatic equilibrium: The balance between inward gravity and outward pressure in a star. This balance supports a blue supergiant while its core generates energy.
Stellar evolution: The changes in a star’s structure and properties over its lifetime. A blue-supergiant phase is one possible stage in the evolution of a massive star.
Rigel: A bright blue-white supergiant in the constellation Orion. Rigel is a nearby, prominent example of a blue supergiant.
Spectral type: A stellar category based primarily on spectral features associated with surface temperature. Their blue color corresponds to hot spectral types, commonly O and B.
Stellar nucleosynthesis: The production of atomic nuclei through nuclear reactions inside stars. Fusion supplies the energy that sustains the star’s luminosity.
Main sequence: The long-lived stellar phase in which a star fuses hydrogen in its core. Massive stars can evolve from the main sequence into blue-supergiant states.
Deneb: A luminous white-blue supergiant in the constellation Cygnus. Deneb illustrates the enormous luminosity of a relatively distant supergiant.
Luminosity class: A spectral classification describing a star’s luminosity relative to stars of similar spectral type. Class I identifies the supergiant luminosity range.
CNO cycle: A set of hydrogen-fusion reactions that uses carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen as catalysts. It dominates hydrogen burning in the hot cores of many massive stars.

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