3 Antares
Mars’ rival
When Antares reaches the end of its life, it could be as bright as a full Moon and perhaps visible from Earth for several months. At 883 solar radii, it is smaller than Betelgeuse but has a similar surface temperature and mass. Antares is at the heart of the constellation Scorpius and is around 12 million years old. It will likely go supernova in a few hundred thousand years.
Named by the ancient Greeks for its similar colour to Mars, ‘Antares’ means the rival of Mars, using ‘Ares’, the Hellenic name for the Roman god of war. Located around 550 light years from Earth, Antares is joined by a smaller and dimmer companion, Antares B. Both, however, greatly outshine the Sun. The end of Antares could have already begun, or it may take the next few hundred millennia for it to go supernova.