Bright giant

Hertzsprung–Russell diagram

Spectral type

Brown dwarfs

White dwarfs

Red dwarfs

Subdwarfs

Main sequence
("dwarfs")

Subgiants

Giants

Bright giants

Supergiants

Hypergiants

absolute
magni-
tude
(M_V)

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:

• Epsilon Canis Majoris (Adhara): a blue-white (B-type) bright giant
• Theta Scorpii (Sargas): a white (F-type) bright giant
• Beta Capricorni (Dabih): a yellow-white (G-type) bright giant
• Alpha Hydrae (Alphard): an orange (K-type) bright giant
• Alpha Herculis (Rasalgethi): a red (M-type) bright giant
• Gamma Canis Majoris (Muliphein) a (B-Type) bright giant

See also

• Red giant