Alpha Lacertae, Latinised from α Lacertae, is a single white-hued

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

in the

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 origins of the e ...

Lacerta Lacerta is one of the 88 modern constellations defined by the International Astronomical Union. Its name is Latin for lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except ...

, located 103

light-year A light-year, alternatively spelled light year, is a large unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equivalent to about 9.46 trillion kilometers (), or 5.88 trillion miles ().One trillion here is taken to be 1012 ...

s from the

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

. It is the brightest star in Lacerta with an

apparent visual 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 lig ...

of 3.76. The star is moving closer to the Earth with a heliocentric

radial velocity The radial velocity or line-of-sight velocity, also known as radial speed or range rate, of a target with respect to an observer is the temporal rate of change, rate of change of the distance or Slant range, range between the two points. It is e ...

of −4.5 km/s. This is an ordinary

A-type main-sequence star An A-type main-sequence star (A V) or A dwarf star is a main-sequence (hydrogen-burning) star of spectral type A and luminosity class V (five). These stars have spectra defined by strong hydrogen Balmer absorption lines. They measure between 1 ...

with 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 grati ...

of A1 V, which indicates it is generating energy through

hydrogen fusion Stellar nucleosynthesis is the creation (nucleosynthesis) of chemical elements by nuclear fusion reactions within stars. Stellar nucleosynthesis has occurred since the original creation of hydrogen, helium and lithium during the Big Bang. As a ...

at its

core Core or cores may refer to: Science and technology * Core (anatomy), everything except the appendages * Core (manufacturing), used in casting and molding * Core (optical fiber), the signal-carrying portion of an optical fiber * Core, the central ...

. It is around 400 million years old with a relatively high rate of spin, showing a

projected rotational velocity Stellar rotation is the angular motion of a star about its axis. The rate of rotation can be measured from the spectrum of the star, or by timing the movements of active features on the surface. The rotation of a star produces an equatorial bulge ...

of 128 km/s. The star has 2.2 times the

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

and 2.1 times the Sun's radius. It is radiating 28 times the

Sun's luminosity The solar luminosity (), is a unit of radiant flux (power emitted in the form of photons) conventionally used by astronomers to measure the luminosity of stars, galaxies and other celestial objects in terms of the output of the Sun. One nominal ...

from its

photosphere The photosphere is a star's outer shell from which light is radiated. The term itself is derived from Ancient Greek roots, φῶς, φωτός/''phos, photos'' meaning "light" and σφαῖρα/''sphaira'' meaning "sphere", in reference to it ...

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 electromagnetic radiation. Effective temperature is often used as an estimate of a body's surface temperature ...

of . Alpha Lacertae has a

visual companion In observational astronomy, a double star or visual double is a pair of stars that appear close to each other as viewed from Earth, especially with the aid of optical telescopes. This occurs because the pair either forms a binary star (i.e. a bi ...

, CCDM J22313+5017B, of

spectral type 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 grati ...

A and

11.8, approximately 36

arcseconds A minute of arc, arcminute (arcmin), arc minute, or minute arc, denoted by the symbol , is a unit of angular measurement equal to of one degree. Since one degree is of a turn (or complete rotation), one minute of arc is of a turn. The na ...

away. The companion is optical, a chance line-of-sight coincidence.

Naming

''Alpha Lacertae'' is the

Bayer designation A Bayer designation is a stellar designation in which a specific star is identified by a Greek or Latin letter followed by the genitive form of its parent constellation's Latin name. The original list of Bayer designations contained 1,564 stars. ...

for this star; it has the

Flamsteed designation A Flamsteed designation is a combination of a number and constellation name that uniquely identifies most naked eye stars in the modern constellations visible from southern England. They are named for John Flamsteed who first used them while co ...

7 Lacertae. In

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

, (), meaning '' Flying Serpent'', refers to an asterism consisting of α Lacertae,

4 Lacertae 4 Lacertae is a single star in the northern constellation Lacerta, located about 1,900 light years away. This object visible to the naked eye as a white-hued star with an apparent visual magnitude of 4.55. It is moving closer to th ...

, π² Cygni, π¹ Cygni,

HD 206267 HD 206267A is a hierarchical triple star system in the northern circumpolar constellation of Cepheus. Two of the members form a spectroscopic binary that orbit each other with a period of 3.7 days, while a third member lies further away—it ...

ε Cephei Epsilon Cephei, Latinized from ε Cephei, is a star in the northern constellation of Cepheus. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 38.17 mas as seen from the Earth, it is located about 85 light years from the Sun. The s ...

, β Lacertae, σ Cassiopeiae, ρ Cassiopeiae, τ Cassiopeiae,

AR Cassiopeiae AR Cassiopeiae (AR Cas) is a variable star in the constellation of Cassiopeia. It is thought to be a member of a septuple star system, one of only two known star systems with a multiplicity of 7, the other being Nu Scorpii. Nomen ...

9 Lacertae 9 Lacertae is a single star in the northern constellation Lacerta, located 172 light years away from Sun. It is visible to the naked eye as a faint, white-hued star with an apparent visual magnitude of 4.64. This object is moving furt ...

3 Andromedae 3 Andromedae, abbreviated 3 And, is a single star in the northern constellation of Andromeda. ''3 Andromedae'' is the Flamsteed designation. It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 4.64. The distance to this ...

, 7 Andromedae, 8 Andromedae, λ Andromedae, κ Andromedae, ι Andromedae, and ψ Andromedae. Consequently, the

Chinese name Chinese names or Chinese personal names are names used by individuals from Greater China and other parts of the Chinese-speaking world throughout East and Southeast Asia (ESEA). In addition, many names used in Japan, Korea and Vietnam are often a ...

for α Lacertae itself is (, en, the First Star of Flying Serpent).AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) 天文教育資訊網 2006 年 7 月 7 日
/ref>

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alpha Lacertae A-type main-sequence stars Double stars Lacerta (constellation) Lacertae, Alpha BD+49 3875 Lacertae, 07 213558 111169 8585