Bright giant

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The luminosity class II in the Yerkes spectral classification is given to bright giants. These are stars which straddle the boundary between giants and supergiants, and the classification is in general given to giant stars with exceptionally high luminosity, but which are not sufficiently bright or massive to be classified as supergiants.

Well known stars which are classified as bright giants include:

• Adhara (ε Canis Majoris): a blue-white (B-type) bright giant
• Pherkad (γ Ursae Minoris): a white (A-type) bright giant
• Sargas (θ Scorpii): a yellow-white (F-type) bright giant
• Dabih (β¹ Capricornis): a yellow (G-type) bright giant
• Alphard (α Hydrae): an orange (K-type) bright giant
• Rasalgethi (α¹ Herculis): a red (M-type) bright giant

[edit] See also

• supergiant
• giant star
• red giant
• spectral classification