Red giant


3409.jpg)


Hertzsprung–Russell diagram
Spectral type
Brown dwarfs
White dwarfs
Red dwarfs
Subdwarfs
Main sequence
("dwarfs")
("dwarfs")
Subgiants
Giants
Bright giants
Supergiants
Hypergiants
absolute
magni-
tude
(MV)
magni-
tude
(MV)
A red giant is a luminous giant star of low or intermediate mass (roughly 0.3–8 solar masses (M☉)) in a late phase of stellar evolution. The outer atmosphere is inflated and tenuous, making the radius large and the surface temperature low, 5,000 K and lower. The appearance of the red giant is from yellow-orange to red, including the spectral types K and M, but also class S stars and most carbon stars.