Beta Comae Berenices (β Comae Berenices, β Com) is a solar-type star in the northern

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The first constellati ...

Coma Berenices Coma Berenices is an ancient asterism in the northern sky, which has been defined as one of the 88 modern constellations. It is in the direction of the fourth galactic quadrant, between Leo and Boötes, and it is visible in both hemispher ...

. It is located at a distance of about from Earth. The

Greek letter The Greek alphabet has been used to write the Greek language since the late 9th or early 8th century BC. It was derived from the earlier Phoenician alphabet, and is the earliest known alphabetic script to systematically write vowels as wel ...

beta Beta (, ; uppercase , lowercase , or cursive ; or ) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Ancient Greek, beta represented the voiced bilabial plosive . In Modern Greek, it represe ...

(β) usually indicates that the star has the second highest

visual magnitude Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the brightness of a star, astronomical object or other celestial objects like artificial satellites. Its value depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance, and any extinction of the object's light ca ...

in the constellation. However, with an

apparent visual magnitude Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the brightness of a star, astronomical object or other celestial objects like artificial satellites. Its value depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance, and any extinction of the object's light ca ...

of 4.3, this star is actually slightly brighter than α Comae Berenices. It can be seen with the naked eye, but may be too dim to be viewed from a built-up urban area. The star has a

stellar classification In astronomy, stellar classification is the classification of stars based on their stellar spectrum, spectral characteristics. Electromagnetic radiation from the star is analyzed by splitting it with a Prism (optics), prism or diffraction gratin ...

of G0 V, compared to G2 V for the Sun. It has a mass of 1.15

solar mass The solar mass () is a frequently used unit of mass in astronomy, equal to approximately . It is approximately equal to the mass of the Sun. It is often used to indicate the masses of other stars, as well as stellar clusters, nebulae, galaxie ...

es and a radius of 1.14

solar radii Solar may refer to: Astronomy * Of or relating to the Sun ** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun ** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels") ** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicat ...

. The

effective temperature The effective temperature of a body such as a star or planet is the temperature of a black body that would emit the same total amount of electromagnetic radiation. Effective temperature is often used as an estimate of a body's surface temperature ...

of the outer envelope is 5,936 K, giving it a yellow hue of a G-type star. In terms of age it is younger than the Sun, being about 2 billion years old. Observations of short term variations in the chromatic activity suggest that the star undergoes differential rotation, with a rotation period of about 11–13 days. Its surface has a measured activity cycle of 16.6 years, compared to 11 years on the Sun. It may also have a secondary activity cycle of 9.6 years. At one time it was thought that this star might have a spectroscopic companion. However, this was ruled out by means of more accurate radial velocity measurements. No

planet A planet is a large, Hydrostatic equilibrium, rounded Astronomical object, astronomical body that is generally required to be in orbit around a star, stellar remnant, or brown dwarf, and is not one itself. The Solar System has eight planets b ...

s have yet been detected around it, and there is no evidence of a dusty disk. The

habitable zone In astronomy and astrobiology, the habitable zone (HZ), or more precisely the circumstellar habitable zone (CHZ), is the range of orbits around a star within which a planetary surface can support liquid water given sufficient atmospheric pressu ...

for this star, defined as the locations where liquid water could be present on an Earth-like planet, is 0.918–1.96 AU, where 1 AU is the average distance from the Earth to the Sun.

References

External links

SolStation entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beta Comae Berenices Comae Berenices, Beta Coma Berenices G-type main-sequence stars Comae Berenices, Beta Comae Berenices, 43 114710 064394 4983 0502 BD+28 2193

See also

References

External links