This artist’s impression shows the surface and atmosphere of the supergiant star Antares.
It was made by M. Kornmesser using data obtained by ESO’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer.
Often referred to as “the heart of the scorpion”, Antares is the fifteenth-brightest star in the night sky, and the brightest star in the constellation of Scorpius.
Antares is one of the largest known stars and is classified as a red supergiant.
Antares is thought to be 15 to 18 times as massive as the Sun, and have around 883 times its radius. If placed in the center of the Solar System, its outer surface would lie between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. A terrifying monster!