Planet Antares: All You Need To Know About It

By Author: Fox Thomas
Total Articles: 26
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Planet Antares, also known as 'the rival of Mars' or 'anti Mars', is a class M supergiant star. Being a first magnitude star, Antares is as bright a star can ever get. Antares is approximately 600 light years from the solar system of sun and it is present in the Milky Way galaxy. Being the sixth brightest star, its visual luminosity is 10,000 times more than that of the Sun. The bolometric luminosity of Antares is approximately 65,000 times more than that of Sun's. This is because a major part of star's energy is expiated as infrared rays. Interestingly, the mass of this star is about 15 to 18 solar masses. Planet Antares has quite a low average density because of such a small mass and relatively large size.

Planet Antares - The Rival Of Mars

Because of the similarity with Mars and its appearance, Planet Antares has been given the name "rival of Mars". While there are hundreds of questions that science and astronomy still need to answer about our solar system, galaxy and universe, space science has conducted study on evolution of stars and has come out with theories that can assist us in understanding Planet Antares ...
... in a better way.

Study has revealed that not only Antares is a red supergiant star; it has an amazing diameter which is approximately 700 times that of the sun. It has also been revealed that Antares is quite young as compared to sun, but surprisingly it is near the end of its total lifespan. The star has been there for nearly 20 million years, but due to its enormous size it is burning faster and radiating much more Infrared radiation than the sun does. Since it is a red supergiant, it is easily visible to earthlings.

Planet Antares can be viewed from the earth, and the best time to watch it is around May 31 each year. At this time, this particular star is in exact opposition to the Sun. To find Antares, you need to look directly into the heart of the Scorpion. During this time, the Antares rises during the dusk and then sets at the time of dawn. So during entire May, you can view this star all night long. Another notable fact is around November 30 for two to three weeks this star is absolutely invisible. This is because at this time the Antares is camouflaged by the sun's glare.

There are still a number of questions that astrophysics, astrology and science need to answer. These questions -are: How did solar system came into existence? Does life exist anywhere except the planet Earth? How the galaxies got created? Is Planet Antares just another star or a planet? Scientists and researchers greatly differ on theories and have different apprehensions about this star. Everybody is still in the process of learning, and only by making constant endeavor we can better understand about the evolution of Planet Antares and other facts related to it.

Astronomy buff Edwin J. Oakenfold has been fascinated with space since he was a young boy. Today Edwin continues his research on space and the planet antares. Get more from Edwin on his blog Planet Antares Space.