Antares is one of the largest known red supergiant stars, and it’s a giant in both size and brightness. Found in the constellation Scorpius, Antares is a massive red supergiant star nearing the end of its stellar life. It’s about 700 times the diameter of the Sun and thousands of times more luminous. If Antares were placed at the center of our solar system, it would engulf the orbits of Mars and possibly Jupiter.

Red supergiants like Antares are formed when very large stars run out of hydrogen in their cores and begin fusing heavier elements. This causes them to expand enormously. While they are very bright, their surface temperature is cooler than smaller stars, giving them a reddish appearance.

Let’s look at why the other options are incorrect:
- **White dwarfs** are very small and dense remnants of stars, not large.
- **Pulsars** are spinning neutron stars, also small and incredibly dense.
- **Quasars** are not stars but highly energetic centers of distant galaxies powered by black holes.

Antares stands out because it helps astronomers study the life cycle of massive stars. Eventually, Antares will explode in a supernova and leave behind a dense core — possibly a neutron star or black hole.

In summary, Antares is an example of a red supergiant — one of the largest known types of stars in our universe. Its size, brightness, and lifecycle are all fascinating parts of stellar astronomy.