The luminosity class II in the Yerkes spectral classification is given to bright giants. These are star

Star

A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...

s which straddle the boundary between giants

Giant star

A giant star is a star with substantially larger radius and luminosity than a main sequence star of the same surface temperature. Typically, giant stars have radii between 10 and 100 solar radii and luminosities between 10 and 1,000 times that of the Sun. Stars still more luminous than giants are...

 and supergiant

Supergiant

Supergiants are among the most massive stars. They occupy the top region of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. In the Yerkes spectral classification, supergiants are class Ia or Ib . They typically have bolometric absolute magnitudes between -5 and -12...

s, and the classification is in general given to giant stars with exceptionally high luminosity

Luminosity

Luminosity is a measurement of brightness.-In photometry and color imaging:In photometry, luminosity is sometimes incorrectly used to refer to luminance, which is the density of luminous intensity in a given direction. The SI unit for luminance is candela per square metre.The luminosity function...

, 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
  Epsilon Canis Majoris
  Epsilon Canis Majoris is the second brightest star in the constellation Canis Major, and one of the brightest stars in the night sky. It has the Bayer designation "epsilon" despite being the second brightest and not the fifth brightest star in its constellation. It has the traditional name Adhara...
  
  (Adhara): a blue-white (B-type) bright giant
• Gamma Ursae Minoris
  Gamma Ursae Minoris
  Gamma Ursae Minoris is a slightly variable star in the constellation Ursa Minor. It also has the common name Pherkad. Together with Beta Ursae Minoris, Gamma forms the end of the dipper pan of the "Little Dipper"...
  
  (Pherkad): a white (A-type) bright giant
• Theta Scorpii
  Theta Scorpii
  Theta Scorpii is a star in the constellation Scorpius. It has the traditional name Sargas, of Sumerian origin....
  
  (Sargas): a white (F-type) bright giant
• Beta Capricorni
  Beta Capricorni
  Beta Capricorni is a star system in the constellation Capricornus. It has the traditional name Dabih, which comes from the Arabic الذابح al-dhābiḥ, meaning "the butcher". The β Capricorni system is located 328 light years from Earth...
  
  (Dabih): a yellow-white (G-type) bright giant
• Alpha Hydrae (Alphard): an orange (K-type) bright giant
• Alpha Herculis
  Alpha Herculis
  Alpha Herculis is a multiple star system in the constellation Hercules. It has the traditional name Rasalgethi or Ras Algethi , and the Flamsteed designation 64 Herculis...
  
  (Rasalgethi): a red (M-type) bright giant

See also

• supergiant
  Supergiant
  Supergiants are among the most massive stars. They occupy the top region of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. In the Yerkes spectral classification, supergiants are class Ia or Ib . They typically have bolometric absolute magnitudes between -5 and -12...
  
  
• giant star
  Giant star
  A giant star is a star with substantially larger radius and luminosity than a main sequence star of the same surface temperature. Typically, giant stars have radii between 10 and 100 solar radii and luminosities between 10 and 1,000 times that of the Sun. Stars still more luminous than giants are...
  
  
• red giant
  Red giant
  A red giant is a luminous giant star of low or intermediate mass in a late phase of stellar evolution. The outer atmosphere is inflated and tenuous, making the radius immense and the surface temperature low, somewhere from 5,000 K and lower...
  
  
• spectral classification