Encyclopedia > Antares

  Article Content

Antares

AntaresScorpii) is a star. Its name derives from the Greek words meaning "similar to Ares" or "rival of Ares," probably due to the similarity of its reddish hue to the appearance of the planet Mars. This distinctive coloration has made the star an object of interest to many societies througout history, and many of the old Egyptian temples are oriented so that the light of Antares plays a role in the ceremonies performed there. Antares was one of the four "royal stars" of the Persians around 3000 BC, and some writers claim that it is the "lance star" referred to in the Biblical book of Job.

Antares is an M-class giant star, with a diameter of approximately 6.24 × 108 km, or slightly more than the distance as from Sun to Mars. It has a very low density.



All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

 
  Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!
 
 
  
  Featured Article
242

... - Wikipedia <<Up     Contents 242 Centuries: 2nd century - 3rd century - 4th century Decades: 190s 200s 210s 220s 230s - 240s - 250s 260s ...

 
 
 
This page was created in 37 ms