Welcome to the Astro minute, where we’re exploring the universe sixty seconds at a time. I’m Lauren Smyth, and today we’re exploring colorful stars.



Stars are burning balls of gas which are different colors depending on their surface temperatures. While most stars appear white because our eyes can’t gather enough light from them to discern their color, some of the brighter stars’ colors are easily visible. Cooler Antares appears red, with surface temperatures of a mere five thousand degrees Fahrenheit. Aldebaran looks orange at around seven thousand degrees. Our own yellow sun is about ten thousand degrees. And the hottest stars we can see with our eyes, including Vega and Spica, appear blue, with surface temperatures up to around forty thousand degrees Fahrenheit. To easily see the color difference between cooler and warmer stars, check out cool red Betelgeuse in Orion’s shoulder and hot blue Rigel in his knee.



That’s your Astro Minute!