giant star

noun

1. a star having a diameter of from 10 to 100 times that of the sun, as Arcturus or Aldebaran.

giant star

noun

1. any of a class of stars, such as Capella and Arcturus, that have swelled and brightened considerably as they approach the end of their life, their energy supply having changed Sometimes shortened togiant Compare supergiant

giant star

1. A very large, bright non-main-sequence star that burns hydrogen at a much faster rate than a dwarf star. Giant stars are much more luminous and have shorter lifespans than the slower-burning dwarfs. The larger the giant, the shorter its lifespan; the largest stars, with solar mass of around 100, blaze at several hundred thousand times the energy of the Sun and will last only a few million years, a very brief time when compared with the Sun's 10-billion-year lifespan. Giant stars usually end their lives as supernovae , but even before that event the immense ultraviolet radiation they produce has a dramatic impact on their stellar surroundings; the presence of a giant star in a star system prevents the formation of new protostars because the radiation from the giant star breaks apart any nearby nebulae.

Word History and Origins

Origin of giant star¹

First recorded in 1910–15

Example Sentences

We did not know we would find giant planets forming without parents stars at all, much less that we would see giant stars forming in pairs or binary systems with no stars at all.

From Salon

It’s located about 1,000 light years from Earth and it’s visible thanks to the ionization of gases by the blue giant star Persei.

From BBC

Scientists predict that in a few billion years the sun will expand into a red giant star that will swell up and engulf Earth and the other inner planets.

From Science Daily

The phenomenon occurs when a white dwarf and red giant star orbit each other.

From Los Angeles Times

Instead, Saffe and his team observed a binary consisting of two giant stars.

From Science Daily