Hot, luminous star with a spectral type of B9 (or A9) or earlier
Hertzsprung–Russell diagram
Spectral type
O
B
A
F
G
K
M
L
T
Brown dwarfs
White dwarfs
Red dwarfs
Subdwarfs
Main sequence ("dwarfs")
Subgiants
Giants
Red giants
Blue giants
Bright giants
Supergiants
Red supergiant
Hypergiants
absolute magni- tude (MV)
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A blue supergiant (BSG) is a hot, luminous star, often referred to as an OB supergiant. They are usually considered to be those with luminosity class I and spectral class B9 or earlier,[1] although sometimes A-class supergiants are also deemed blue supergiants.[2][3]
Blue supergiants are found towards the top left of the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram, above and to the right of the main sequence. They are larger than the Sun but smaller than a red supergiant, with surface temperatures of 10,000–50,000 K and luminosities from about 10,000 to a million times that of the Sun. They are most often an evolutionary phase between high-mass, hydrogen-fusing main-sequence stars and helium-fusing red supergiants, although new research suggests they could be the result of stellar mergers.[4][5]
The majority of supergiants are also blue (B-type) supergiants; blue supergiants from classes O9.5 to B2 are even more common than their main sequence counterparts.[6]
^Massey, P.; Puls, J.; Pauldrach, A. W. A.; Bresolin, F.; Kudritzki, R. P.; Simon, T. (2005). "The Physical Properties and Effective Temperature Scale of O-Type Stars as a Function of Metallicity. II. Analysis of 20 More Magellanic Cloud Stars and Results from the Complete Sample". The Astrophysical Journal. 627 (1): 477–519. arXiv:astro-ph/0503464. Bibcode:2005ApJ...627..477M. doi:10.1086/430417. S2CID 18172086.
^Yüce, Kutluay (2005-01-01). "Spectral Analysis of 4 Lacertae and ν Cephei". Baltic Astronomy. 14: 51–82. Bibcode:2005BaltA..14...51Y. ISSN 1021-6766.
^Burgos, A. de; Simon-Díaz, S.; Lennon, D. J.; Dorda, R.; Negueruela, I.; Urbaneja, M. A.; Patrick, L. R.; Herrero, A. (2020-11-01). "High-resolution spectroscopic study of massive blue and red supergiants in Perseus OB1 - I. Definition of the sample, membership, and kinematics". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 643: A116. arXiv:2008.13299. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202039019. ISSN 0004-6361.
^Menon, Athira; Ercolino, Andrea; Urbaneja, Miguel A.; Lennon, Daniel J.; Herrero, Artemio; Hirai, Ryosuke; Langer, Norbert; Schootemeijer, Abel; Chatzopoulos, Emmanouil; Frank, Juhan; Shiber, Sagiv (March 2024). "Evidence for Evolved Stellar Binary Mergers in Observed B-type Blue Supergiants". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 963 (2): L42. Bibcode:2024ApJ...963L..42M. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ad2074. ISSN 2041-8205.
^Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Sowell, J. R.; Trippe, M.; Caballero-Nieves, S. M.; Houk, N. (2007-07-18). "H-R Diagrams Based on the HD Stars in the Michigan Spectral Catalogue and the Hipparcos Catalog". The Astronomical Journal. 134 (3): 1089. Bibcode:2007AJ....134.1089S. doi:10.1086/520060. ISSN 1538-3881.
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Subgiants Giants Red giants Blue giants Bright giants Supergiants Red supergiant Hypergiants absolute magni- tude (MV) Supergiants are among the most massive...
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recent naked-eye supernova was SN 1987A, which was the explosion of a bluesupergiant star in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky...
Giants Red giants Blue giants Bright giants Supergiants Red supergiant Hypergiants absolute magni- tude (MV) In astronomy, a blue giant is a hot star...
LBVs) Sher 25 (bluesupergiant in NGC 3603 with a bipolar outflow and surrounded by a circumstellar ring) BD+40°4210 (bluesupergiant in the stellar association...
that the brightest of the yellow supergiants, HD 33579, is currently expanding from a bluesupergiant to a red supergiant. These stars are doubly rare because...
loop towards the blue (i.e. hotter) side of the diagram, to a place called the blue giant branch. Blue loops can occur for red supergiants, red-giant branch...
Rigel is a bluesupergiant star in the constellation of Orion. It has the Bayer designation β Orionis, which is Latinized to Beta Orionis and abbreviated...
03). Traditionally, the color index uses Vega as a zero point. The bluesupergiant Theta Muscae has one of the lowest B−V indices at −0.41, while the...
sequence ("dwarfs") Subgiants Giants Red giants Blue giants Bright giants Supergiants Red supergiant Hypergiants absolute magni- tude (MV) A hypergiant...
along with Alnilam and Mintaka. The primary star, Alnitak Aa, is a hot bluesupergiant with an absolute magnitude of −6.0 and is the brightest class O star...
Epsilon Orionis and abbreviated Epsilon Ori or ε Ori. This is a massive, bluesupergiant star some 2,000 light-years distant. It is estimated to be 832,000...
first a bluesupergiant and then a red supergiant. Particularly massive stars (exceeding 40 solar masses, like Alnilam, the central bluesupergiant of Orion's...
bluesupergiant. After the supernova faded, that identification was definitively confirmed, as Sk −69 202 had disappeared. The possibility of a blue supergiant...
2022). "Early Results from GLASS-JWST. VIII. An Extremely Magnified BlueSupergiant Star at Redshift 2.65 in the A2744 Cluster Field". The Astrophysical...
Betelgeuse is a red supergiant star in the constellation of Orion. It is usually the tenth-brightest star in the night sky and, after Rigel, the second-brightest...
MACS J1149 Lensed Star 1, also known as Icarus, is a bluesupergiant star observed through a gravitational lens. It is the seventh most distant individual...
galaxy. It was given the spectral type A5eIa and it was considered a bluesupergiant with emission lines. In 1980 the star was already known as a very luminous...
class O-type stars as well as one of the closest to Earth. It is a bluesupergiant, one of the most luminous stars in the Milky Way. Visually it is over...
visible pair, contains the Wolf–Rayet star and a bluesupergiant, while γ1 Velorum contains a blue giant and an unseen companion. Gamma Velorum is close...
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