Alpha Camelopardalis
Encyclopedia
Alpha Camelopardalis (Alpha Cam / α Camelopardalis / α Cam) is an O-type supergiant
star
, with an apparent visual magnitude of approximately 4.301. It is the third brightest star in the constellation
of Camelopardalis, the first and second brightest being β Camelopardalis and CS Camelopardalis
, respectively. This star has been thought to be a runaway star ejected from the OB association Cam OB1, but newer observations cast doubt on this. The star is an emission-line star and is losing mass rapidly, at a rate of approximately 6 millionths of a solar mass
per year. The star is preceded by a bow shock visible to NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE. The star is travelling at a rate of somewhere between 680 and 4,200 kilometers per second: between 1.5 and 9.4 million mph.
It is the farthest constellational star from the sun.
, , meaning Right Wall of Purple Forbidden Enclosure
, refers to an asterism consisting of α Camelopardalis, α Draconis, κ Draconis
, λ Draconis
, 24 Ursae Majoris, 43 Camelopardalis
and BK Camelopardalis
. Consequently, α Camelopardalis itself is known as , representing , meaning Second Imperial Guard. 少衛 (Shǎowèi) is westernized into Shaou Wei by R.H. Allen, the meaning is "Minor Guard", but it is not cleared designation
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...
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...
, with an apparent visual magnitude of approximately 4.301. It is the third brightest star in the constellation
Constellation
In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....
of Camelopardalis, the first and second brightest being β Camelopardalis and CS Camelopardalis
CS Camelopardalis
CS Camelopardalis is a binary star in reflection nebulae vdB 14, in the constellation Camelopardalis. It was designated B Cam or 2H.Cam....
, respectively. This star has been thought to be a runaway star ejected from the OB association Cam OB1, but newer observations cast doubt on this. The star is an emission-line star and is losing mass rapidly, at a rate of approximately 6 millionths of a solar mass
Solar mass
The solar mass , , is a standard unit of mass in astronomy, used to indicate the masses of other stars and galaxies...
per year. The star is preceded by a bow shock visible to NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE. The star is travelling at a rate of somewhere between 680 and 4,200 kilometers per second: between 1.5 and 9.4 million mph.
It is the farthest constellational star from the sun.
Chinese name
In ChineseChinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
, , meaning Right Wall of Purple Forbidden Enclosure
Purple Forbidden enclosure
The Purple Forbidden enclosure is one of the San Yuan or Three enclosures. Stars and constellations of this group lie near the north celestial pole and visible all year from temperate latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere.-Asterisms:The asterisms are :...
, refers to an asterism consisting of α Camelopardalis, α Draconis, κ Draconis
Kappa Draconis
Kappa Draconis is a blue giant star located in the constellation Draco. At an apparent magnitude of 3.88, it is barely visible to the naked eye when artificial lighting from cities is present. Nevertheless, it is a powerful star, approximately five time as massive as the Sun...
, λ Draconis
Lambda Draconis
Lambda Draconis is a star in the constellation Draco. It has the traditional names Gianfar, Giansar, Juza, Giausar or Giauzar....
, 24 Ursae Majoris, 43 Camelopardalis
43 Camelopardalis
43 Camelopardalis is a star in the constellation Camelopardalis.43 Camelopardalis is a blue-white B-type giant with an apparent magnitude of +5.11...
and BK Camelopardalis
BK Camelopardalis
BK Camelopardalis is a variable star in the Camelopardalis.-Chinese name:In Chinese, , meaning Right Wall of Purple Forbidden Enclosure, refers to an asterism consisting of BK Camelopardalis, α Draconis, κ Draconis, λ Draconis, 24 Ursae Majoris, 43 Camelopardalis and α Camelopardalis...
. Consequently, α Camelopardalis itself is known as , representing , meaning Second Imperial Guard. 少衛 (Shǎowèi) is westernized into Shaou Wei by R.H. Allen, the meaning is "Minor Guard", but it is not cleared designation
External links
- HR 1542, entry in the Bright Star CatalogueBright Star CatalogueThe Bright Star Catalogue, also known as the Yale Catalogue of Bright Stars or Yale Bright Star Catalogue, is a star catalogue that lists all stars of stellar magnitude 6.5 or brighter, which is roughly every star visible to the naked eye from Earth. It is currently available online in its 5th...
- Alpha Camelopardalis in AladinAladin Sky AtlasAladin is an interactive software sky atlas allowing the user to visualize digitized astronomical images, superimpose entries from astronomical catalogues or databases, and interactively access related data and information from the SIMBAD database, the VizieR service and other archives for all...
- Image of the constellational matrix formed by viewing the constellational lines at 16,000 light-years from the sun. Spike at the left is Alpha Camelopardalis.