Second brightest star in the constellation Lepus
β Leporis
Location of β Leporis (circled)
Observation dataEpoch J2000.0 Equinox J2000.0 (ICRS )
Constellation
Lepus
Right ascension
05h 28m 14.72316s [ 1]
Declination
−20° 45′ 33.9878″[ 1]
Apparent magnitude (V)
2.84[ 2]
Characteristics
Spectral type
G5 II[ 3]
U−B color index
+0.47[ 2]
B−V color index
+0.82[ 2]
R−I color index
+0.44[ 4]
Astrometry Radial velocity (Rv )−13.6 ± 0.9 [ 5] km/sProper motion (μ) RA: −5.02[ 1] mas /yr Dec.: −85.92[ 1] mas /yr Parallax (π)20.34 ± 0.18 mas [ 1] Distance 160 ± 1 ly (49.2 ± 0.4 pc ) Absolute magnitude (MV )−0.65[ 6]
Details Mass 3.5 ± 0.1 [ 7] M ☉ Radius 15.9[ 8] R ☉ Luminosity 160± 3[ 9] L ☉ Surface gravity (log g )2.60 ± 0.03 [ 7] cgs Temperature 5,434± 38[ 9] K Metallicity [Fe/H] −0.12± 0.06[ 9] dex Rotational velocity (v sin i )11[ 10] km/s Age 240[ 7] Myr
Other designations Nihal, β Lep, Beta Leporis, Beta Lep,
9 Leporis , 9 Lep,
BD −20 1096,
FK5 204,
GC 6762,
HD 36079,
HIP 25606,
HR 1829,
PPM 248938,
SAO 170457,
WDS 05282-2046A.
[ 3]
Database references SIMBAD data
Beta Leporis (β Leporis , abbreviated Beta Lep , β Lep ), formally named Nihal ,[ 11] [ 12] is the second brightest star in the constellation of Lepus .[ 13]
Nomenclature
Beta Leporis is the star's Bayer designation . It is also known by the traditional named Nihal , Arabic for "quenching their thirst". The occasional spelling Nibal appears to be due to a misreading.[ 14] In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN)[ 15] to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN's first bulletin of July 2016[ 16] included a table of the first two batches of names approved by the WGSN; which included Nihal for this star.
In Chinese , 廁 (Cè ), meaning Toilet , refers to an asterism consisting of β Leporis, α Leporis , γ Leporis and δ Leporis .[ 17] Consequently, the Chinese name for β Leporis itself is 廁二 (Cè èr ), "the Second Star of Toilet".[ 18]
Properties
Based on parallax measurements from the Hipparcos astrometry satellite,[ 19] this star is located about 160 light-years (49 parsecs ) from the Earth. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 2.84 and a stellar classification of G5 II. The mass of this star is 3.5 times the mass of the Sun and it is about 240 million years old,[ 7] which is the sufficient time for a star this massive to consume the hydrogen at its core and evolve away from the main sequence , becoming a G-type bright giant .[ 3] The angular diameter of Beta Leporis, after correction for limb darkening , is 3.003± 0.066 mas .[ 20] At the distance to this star, it yield a physical radius of 15.9 times the radius of the Sun .[ 8]
This is a double star system and may be a binary , whereby the second star has a brightness of 7.34 mag.[ 21] Using adaptive optics on the AEOS telescope at Haleakala Observatory , the pair was found to be separated by an angle of 2.58 arcseconds at a position angle of 1.4°.[ 22] Component B has been observed to fluctuate in brightness and is catalogued as suspected variable star NSV 2008.[ 23]
References
^ a b c d e van Leeuwen, F. (November 2007). "Validation of the new Hipparcos reduction". Astronomy and Astrophysics . 474 (2): 653– 664. arXiv :0708.1752 . Bibcode :2007A&A...474..653V . doi :10.1051/0004-6361:20078357 . S2CID 18759600 .
^ a b c Johnson, H. L.; et al. (1966). "UBVRIJKL photometry of the bright stars". Communications of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory . 4 (99): 99. Bibcode :1966CoLPL...4...99J .
^ a b c "CCDM J05283-2046AB -- Double or multiple star" , SIMBAD , Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg , retrieved 2011-12-27
^ HR 1829 , database entry, The Bright Star Catalogue, 5th Revised Ed. (Preliminary Version), D. Hoffleit and W. H. Warren, Jr., CDS ID V/50 . Accessed on line November 18, 2008.
^ Evans, D. S. (1967), "The Revision of the General Catalogue of Radial Velocities", in Batten, Alan Henry; Heard, John Frederick (eds.), Determination of Radial Velocities and their Applications, Proceedings from IAU Symposium no. 30 held at the University of Toronto 20-24 June, 1966 , vol. 30, Academic Press, London, p. 57, Bibcode :1967IAUS...30...57E
^ Anderson, E.; Francis, Ch. (2012), "XHIP: An extended hipparcos compilation", Astronomy Letters , 38 (5): 331, arXiv :1108.4971 , Bibcode :2012AstL...38..331A , doi :10.1134/S1063773712050015 , S2CID 119257644 .
^ a b c d Lyubimkov, Leonid S.; et al. (February 2010), "Accurate fundamental parameters for A-, F- and G-type Supergiants in the solar neighbourhood", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , 402 (2): 1369– 1379, arXiv :0911.1335 , Bibcode :2010MNRAS.402.1369L , doi :10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.15979.x , S2CID 119096173
^ a b Lang, Kenneth R. (2006), Astrophysical formulae , Astronomy and astrophysics library, vol. 1 (3rd ed.), Birkhäuser , ISBN 3-540-29692-1 . The radius (R* ) is given by:
2
⋅
R
∗
=
(
10
−
3
⋅
49.2
⋅
3.003
)
AU
0.0046491
AU
/
R
⨀
≈
31.78
⋅
R
⨀
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}2\cdot R_{*}&={\frac {(10^{-3}\cdot 49.2\cdot 3.003)\ {\text{AU}}}{0.0046491\ {\text{AU}}/R_{\bigodot }}}\\&\approx 31.78\cdot R_{\bigodot }\end{aligned}}}
^ a b c da Silva, Ronaldo; Milone, André de C.; Rocha-Pinto, Helio J. (2015-08-01). "Homogeneous abundance analysis of FGK dwarf, subgiant, and giant stars with and without giant planets". Astronomy and Astrophysics . 580 : A24. arXiv :1505.01726 . Bibcode :2015A&A...580A..24D . doi :10.1051/0004-6361/201525770 . ISSN 0004-6361 . Beta Leporis' database entry at VizieR .
^ Bernacca, P. L.; Perinotto, M. (1970). "A catalogue of stellar rotational velocities". Contributi Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova in Asiago . 239 (1): 1. Bibcode :1970CoAsi.239....1B .
^ Kunitzsch, Paul; Smart, Tim (2006). A Dictionary of Modern star Names: A Short Guide to 254 Star Names and Their Derivations (2nd rev. ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Sky Pub. ISBN 978-1-931559-44-7 .
^ "IAU Catalog of Star Names" . Retrieved 28 July 2016 .
^ Kaler, James B., "Nihal" , Stars , archived from the original on 2008-12-10, retrieved 2008-11-18
^ Allen, Richard Hinckley (1899), Star-names and Their Meanings , New York: G. E. Steichert, pp. 265, 269
^ "IAU Working Group on Star Names (WGSN)" . Retrieved 22 May 2016 .
^ "Bulletin of the IAU Working Group on Star Names, No. 1" (PDF) . Retrieved 28 July 2016 .
^ (in Chinese) 中國星座神話 , written by 陳久金. Published by 台灣書房出版有限公司, 2005, ISBN 978-986-7332-25-7 .
^ (in Chinese) 香港太空館 - 研究資源 - 亮星中英對照表 Archived 2008-10-25 at the Wayback Machine , Hong Kong Space Museum. Accessed on line November 23, 2010.
^ Perryman, Michael (2010), The Making of History's Greatest Star Map , Astronomers' Universe, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag , Bibcode :2010mhgs.book.....P , doi :10.1007/978-3-642-11602-5 , ISBN 978-3-642-11601-8
^ Richichi, A.; Percheron, I.; Davis, J. (2009-10-01). "A list of bright interferometric calibrators measured at the European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope Interferometer" . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society . 399 (1): 399– 409. arXiv :0906.3981 . Bibcode :2009MNRAS.399..399R . doi :10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.15289.x . ISSN 0035-8711 .
^ "Nihal - β Leporis (beta Leporis) - Star in Lepus | TheSkyLive.com" . theskylive.com . Retrieved 2023-03-28 .
^ Roberts, Lewis C. Jr. (May 2011), "Astrometric and photometric measurements of binary stars with adaptive optics: observations from 2002", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , 413 (2): 1200– 1205, arXiv :1012.3383 , Bibcode :2011MNRAS.413.1200R , doi :10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.18205.x , S2CID 118398949
^ "NSV 2008, database entry" , New Catalogue of Suspected Variable Stars, the improved version , Moscow, Russia.: Sternberg Astronomical Institute, retrieved 2008-11-18