Beta Carinae
 Location of Beta Carinae |
|
| Observation data Epoch J2000 Equinox J2000 |
|
|---|---|
| Constellation | Carina |
| Right ascension | 09h 13m 11.97746s |
| Declination | −69° 43′ 01.9473″ |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 1.69 |
| Characteristics | |
| Spectral type | A1III |
| U−B color index | +0.03 |
| B−V color index | +0.00 |
| Astrometry | |
| Radial velocity (Rv) | −5.2 km/s |
| Proper motion (μ) |
RA: −156.47 mas/yr Dec.: +108.95 mas/yr |
| Parallax (π) | 28.82 ± 0.11mas |
| Distance | 113.2 ± 0.4 ly (34.7 ± 0.1 pc) |
| Details | |
| Mass | 3.5 M☉ |
| Radius | 6.8 R☉ |
| Luminosity | 288 L☉ |
| Surface gravity (log g) | 3.16 cgs |
| Temperature | 8,866 K |
| Metallicity [Fe/H] | −0.36 dex |
| Rotational velocity (v sin i) | 145.7 ± 2.2 km/s |
| Age | 260 Myr |
| Other designations | |
| Database references | |
| SIMBAD | data |
Beta Carinae (β Carinae, abbreviated Beta Car, β Car), also named Miaplacidus, is the second brightest star in the constellation of Carina and one of the brightest stars in the night sky, with apparent magnitude 1.68. It is the brightest star in the south polar asterism known as the Diamond Cross, marking the southwestern end of the asterism. It lies near the planetary nebula IC 2448. Parallax measurements place it at a distance of 113.2 light-years (34.7 parsecs) from the Sun.
β Carinae (Latinised to Beta Carinae) is the star's Bayer designation.
The star's historical name Miaplacidus made its debut on star maps in 1856 when the star atlas Geography of the Heavens, composed by Elijah Hinsdale Burritt, was published. The meaning and linguistic origin of the name remained an enigma for many decades, until William Higgins, a great scholar and expert on star names, surmised that the name Miaplacidus is apparently a bilingual combination of Arabic مياه miyāh for 'waters' and Latin placidus for 'placid'. In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN's first bulletin of July 2016 included a table of the first two batches of names approved by the WGSN; which included Miaplacidus for this star.
In Chinese, 南船 (Nán Chuán), meaning Southern Boat, refers to an asterism consisting of β Carinae, V337 Carinae, PP Carinae, Theta Carinae and Omega Carinae . Consequently, β Carinae itself is known as 南船五 (Nán Chuán wǔ, English: the Fifth Star of Southern Boat.)
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