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Beta Canis Majoris
Beta Canis Majoris (β Canis Majoris, abbreviated Beta CMa, β CMa), also named Mirzam , is a star in the southern constellation of Canis Major, the "Great Dog", located at a distance of about 500 light-years (150 parsecs) from the Sun. In the modern constellation it lies at the position of the dog's front leg. Nomenclature ''Beta Canis Majoris'' is the star's Bayer designation. The traditional names ''Mirzam'', ''Al-Murzim'' or ''Murzim'', derive from the Arabic (مرزم) for 'The Herald', and probably refers to its position, heralding (i.e., rising before) Sirius in the night sky. 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 ''Mirzam'' for this star. In Chinese, (), meaning ' Market for Soldiers', refers to an asterism consisting of ...
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Canis Major Constellation Map
''Canis'' is a genus of the Caninae which includes multiple extant species, such as wolves, dogs, coyotes, and golden jackals. Species of this genus are distinguished by their moderate to large size, their massive, well-developed skulls and dentition, long legs, and comparatively short ears and tails.Heptner, V. G.; Naumov, N. P. (1998). ''Mammals of the Soviet Union'' Vol.II Part 1a, SIRENIA AND CARNIVORA (Sea Cows, Wolves and Bears). Science Publishers, Inc. USA. pp. 124–129. . Taxonomy The genus ''Canis'' (Carl Linnaeus, 1758) was published in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae and included the dog-like carnivores: the domestic dog, wolves, coyotes and jackals. All species within ''Canis'' are phylogenetically closely related with 78 chromosomes and can potentially interbreed. In 1926, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) in Opinion 91 included Genus ''Canis'' on its ''Official Lists and Indexes of Names in Zoology''. In 1955, the ICZN's Direction ...
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Sirius
Sirius is the list of brightest stars, brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Ancient Greek language, Greek word , or , meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated α Canis Majoris, Latinisation of names, Latinized to Alpha Canis Majoris, and abbreviated Alpha CMa or α CMa. With a visual apparent magnitude of −1.46, Sirius is almost twice as bright as Canopus, the next brightest star. Sirius is a binary star consisting of a main-sequence star of spectral type A-type main-sequence star, A0 or A1, termed Sirius A, and a faint white dwarf companion of spectral type DA2, termed Sirius B. The distance between the two varies between 8.2 and 31.5 astronomical units as they orbit every 50 years. Sirius appears bright because of its intrinsic luminosity and its proximity to the Solar System. At a distance of , the Sirius system is one of Earth's List of nearest stars, nearest neighbours. Sirius is gradually moving closer to the Solar S ...
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Apparent Magnitude
Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the brightness of a star or other astronomical object observed from Earth. An object's apparent magnitude depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance from Earth, and any extinction of the object's light caused by interstellar dust along the line of sight to the observer. The word ''magnitude'' in astronomy, unless stated otherwise, usually refers to a celestial object's apparent magnitude. The magnitude scale dates back to the ancient Roman astronomer Claudius Ptolemy, whose star catalog listed stars from 1st magnitude (brightest) to 6th magnitude (dimmest). The modern scale was mathematically defined in a way to closely match this historical system. The scale is reverse logarithmic: the brighter an object is, the lower its magnitude number. A difference of 1.0 in magnitude corresponds to a brightness ratio of \sqrt /math>, or about 2.512. For example, a star of magnitude 2.0 is 2.512 times as bright as a star of magnitude 3.0, 6. ...
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Tuamotus
The Tuamotu Archipelago or the Tuamotu Islands (french: Îles Tuamotu, officially ) are a French Polynesian chain of just under 80 islands and atolls in the southern Pacific Ocean. They constitute the largest chain of atolls in the world, extending (from northwest to southeast) over an area roughly the size of Western Europe. Their combined land area is . This archipelago's major islands are Anaa, Fakarava, Hao and Makemo. The Tuamotus have approximately 16,000 inhabitants. The islands were initially settled by Polynesians, and modern Tuamotuans have inherited from them a shared Polynesian culture, culture and the Tuamotuan language. The Tuamotus are a overseas collectivity, French overseas collectivity. History The early history of the Tuamotu islands is generally unknown. Archaeological findings suggest that the western Tuamotus were settled from the Society Islands as early as 900 CE or as late as 1200 CE. DNA evidence suggests that they were settled about 1110 CE. On the ...
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Dunhuang Star Chart
The Dunhuang map or Dunhuang Star map is one of the first known graphical representations of stars from ancient Chinese astronomy, dated to the Tang Dynasty (618–907). Before this map, much of the star information mentioned in historical Chinese texts had been questioned.Whitfield, Susan. 004(2004)''The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith''. British Library Staff. Serindia Publications. . The map provides a graphical verification of the star observations, and are part of a series of pictures on one of the Dunhuang manuscripts. The astronomy behind the map is explained in an educational resource posted on the website of the International Dunhuang Project, where much of the research on the map has been done. The Dunhuang Star map is to date the world's oldest complete preserved star atlas. History Early in 1900s (decade), a walled-up cave containing a cache of manuscripts was discovered by Chinese Taoist Wang Yuan-lu in the Mogao Caves. The scroll with the star cha ...
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Xi1 Canis Majoris
Xi1 Canis Majoris, Latinized from ξ1 Canis Majoris, is a Beta Cephei variable star in the constellation Canis Major. It is approximately 1,400 light years from Earth. ξ1 Canis Majoris is a blue-white B-type star. It has generally been assigned a luminosity class of III (giant) or IV (subgiant), for example B1III or B0.5IV. Comparison of its properties with model evolutionary tracks suggest that it is a main sequence star about three quarters of the way through its main sequence lifetime. The apparent magnitude varies from +4.33 to +4.36 with a period of 5.03 hours. Its pulsations cause its radius to vary by 1.0% to 1.5%. At the same time its effective temperature by about above and below its mean temperature. ξ1 Canis Majoris has the longest known rotation period of any B class star, taking around 30 years to complete one revolution on its axis. This is thought to be due to magnetic braking; ξ1 Canis Majoris has the strongest magnetic field of any β Ceph ...
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Omicron1 Canis Majoris
Omicron1 Canis Majoris (ο1 CMa, ο1 Canis Majoris) is a red supergiant star in the constellation Canis Major. It is also a variable star. Name Johann Bayer gave two adjacent stars the Bayer designation of ο Canis Majoris in 1603, but without distinguishing between the stars. John Flamsteed gave the two omicron stars his own numbered designations of 16 and 24 Canis Majoris in the early 18th century. Friedrich Wilhelm Argelander labelled the stars as ο1 and ο2 in his atlas ''Uranometria Nova''. Nicolas Louis de Lacaille labelled it c Canis Majoris, but this was not upheld by subsequent cartographers. Its Henry Draper Catalogue designation is HD 50877. The two Omicron stars marked the centre of the Great Dog's body on Bayer's 1603 ''Uranometria''.Wagman, p. 504. Distance The distance to ο1 Canis Majoris is uncertain. It is strongly associated with the Collinder 121 stellar association, located around 3,500 light years (1,085 parsecs) distant. Its original Hip ...
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Pi Canis Majoris
Pi Canis Majoris (π Canis Majoris; Latin for 'Greater Dog') is a binary star system in the southern constellation of Canis Major. It is visible to the naked eye, having an apparent visual magnitude of +4.69. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 33.80  mas as seen from Earth, this system is located 96.5 light years from the Sun. The star is moving in the general direction of the Sun with a radial velocity of −37.9 km/s. It will make its closest approach in around 733,000 years when it comes within . The brighter primary, component A, is an F-type main-sequence star with a stellar classification of F1.5 V. It is a periodic variable star with a frequency of 11.09569 cycles per day (2.16 hours per cycle) and an amplitude of 0.0025 in magnitude. The star has an estimated 1.32 times the mass of the Sun and is radiating nine times the Sun's luminosity from its photosphere at an effective temperature of around 6,863 K. It displays a strong infrared ex ...
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15 Canis Majoris
15 Canis Majoris is a variable star in the southern constellation of Canis Major, located roughly 1,200 light years away from the Sun. It has the variable star designation EY Canis Majoris; ''15 Canis Majoris'' is the Flamsteed designation. The star is visible to the naked eye as a faint, blue-white hued star with a baseline apparent visual magnitude of +4.82. It is moving away from the Earth with a heliocentric radial velocity of 28 km/s. This is a B-type supergiant star with a stellar classification of B1 Ib. It is classified as a Beta Cephei type variable star and its brightness varies from magnitude +4.79 down to +4.84 with a period of . The star has 12.8 times the mass of the Sun and 6.8 times the Sun's radius. It is radiating 20,000 times the luminosity of the Sun from its photosphere at an 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 e ...
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Nu3 Canis Majoris
Nu3 Canis Majoris, Latinized from ν3 Canis Majoris, is a binary star system in the southern constellation of Canis Major. Characteristics The star system, appearing as one star, is deemed visible to the naked eye with its combined apparent visual magnitude of 4.41. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 7.74  mas as seen from Earth, this system is about 420 light years from the Sun, much further than Nu1 and Nu2 which appear nearby when seen from one point in the Solar System. The primary member, component A, is an evolved, orange-hued giant/bright giant hybrid with an apparent magnitude of +4.63 and a stellar classification of K0 II-III. It is most likely (96% chance) on the horizontal branch. The star has a moderate level of surface activity with a magnetic field strength of and is a source of X-ray emission with a luminosity of . This giant has an estimated 3.4 times the mass of the Sun and has expanded to 33 times the Sun's radius. It is radiat ...
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Asterism (astronomy)
An asterism is an observed pattern or group of stars in the sky. Asterisms can be any identified pattern or group of stars, and therefore are a more general concept than the formally defined 88 constellations. Constellations are based on asterisms, but unlike asterisms, constellations outline and today completely divide the sky and all its celestial objects into regions around their central asterisms. For example, the asterism known as the Big Dipper comprises the seven brightest stars in the constellation Ursa Major. Another is the asterism of the Southern Cross, within the constellation of Crux. Asterisms range from simple shapes of just a few stars to more complex collections of many stars covering large portions of the sky. The stars themselves may be bright naked-eye objects or fainter, even telescopic, but they are generally all of a similar brightness to each other. The larger brighter asterisms are useful for people who are familiarizing themselves with the night sky. ...
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Well (Chinese Constellation)
The Well mansion (井宿, pinyin: Jǐng Xiù ; Japanese: chichiri-boshi) is one of the Twenty-eight mansions of the Chinese constellations. It is one of the southern mansions of the Vermilion Bird The Vermilion Bird ( zh, c=朱雀, p=Zhūquè) is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. According to Wu Xing, the Taoist five elemental system, it represents the Fire element, the direction south, and the season summer correspo .... Asterisms {{DEFAULTSORT:Well (Chinese Constellation) Chinese constellations ...
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