Nu Aquarii (ν Aqr, ν Aquarii) 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 a

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

equatorial Equatorial may refer to something related to: *Earth's equator **the tropics, the Earth's equatorial region **tropical climate *the Celestial equator ** equatorial orbit **equatorial coordinate system ** equatorial mount, of telescopes * equatorial ...

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 ...

Aquarius Aquarius may refer to: Astrology * Aquarius (astrology), an astrological sign * Age of Aquarius, a time period in the cycle of astrological ages Astronomy * Aquarius (constellation) * Aquarius in Chinese astronomy Arts and entertainment ...

. 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 4.52, Nu Aquarii is visible to the naked eye. Its distance from Earth, as determined from

parallax Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight and is measured by the angle or semi-angle of inclination between those two lines. Due to foreshortening, nearby objects ...

measurements, is around . At an estimated age of 708 million years, it has

evolved Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation t ...

into a

giant star A giant star is a star with substantially larger radius and luminosity than a main sequence, main-sequence (or ''dwarf'') star of the same effective temperature, surface temperature.Giant star, entry in ''Astronomy Encyclopedia'', ed. Patrick Moo ...

with a

spectrum A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors i ...

that matches 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 G8 III. It has than double 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 has expanded to eight times the Sun's radius. Nu Aquarii is radiating 37-fold the

luminosity of the Sun 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 s ...

from its outer atmosphere 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 . At this heat, the star is glowing with the yellowish hue of a

G-type star A G-type main-sequence star (Spectral type: G-V), also often, and imprecisely called a yellow dwarf, or G star, is a main-sequence star (luminosity class V) of spectral type G. Such a star has about 0.9 to 1.1 solar masses and an effective tempe ...

. Together with μ Aquarii, it is

Albulaan The traditional star name Albulaan refers to two stars in the Aquarius constellation: * μ Aquarii * ν Aquarii The name derives from the Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the ...

, a name derived from the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

term ''al-bulaʽān'' (''ألبولعان''), meaning "the two swallowers". This star, along with ε Aqr (Albali) and μ Aqr (Albulaan), were ''al Bulaʽ'' (''البلع'')—the Swallower. 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 '' Celestial Ramparts'', refers to an asterism consisting of ν Aquarii, ξ Aquarii,

46 Capricorni 46 Capricorni is a solitary star located around 790 light years away from the Sun in the southern constellation of Capricornus, near the northern border with Aquarius. It is visible to the naked eye as a dim, yellow-hued point of lig ...

47 Capricorni 47 Capricorni is a variable star located around 1,170 light years from the Sun in the southern constellation Capricornus, near the northern border with Aquarius. It has the variable star designation of AG Capricorni and a Bayer desi ...

, λ Capricorni, 50 Capricorni,

18 Aquarii 18 Aquarii is a single, yellow-white hued star in the equatorial constellation of Aquarius. The designation is from the catalogue of English astronomer John Flamsteed, first published in 1712. The star is faintly visible to the naked eye w ...

, 29 Capricorni, 9 Aquarii,

8 Aquarii 8 Aquarii (abbreviated 8 Aqr) is a blue-white sub-giant of the spectral class A4IV in the constellation Aquarius. ''8 Aquarii'' is the Flamsteed designation. It is approximately 290 light-years away from Earth, based on parallax. It i ...

, 14 Aquarii, 17 Aquarii and 19 Aquarii. 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 ν Aquarii itself is (, en, the Tenth Star of Celestial Ramparts).AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) 天文教育資訊網 2006 年 5 月 15 日
/ref>

References

External links

Image Nu Aquarii

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nu Aquarii

201381 Aquarii, Nu Aquarius (constellation) G-type giants 104459 Aquarii, 013 8093 Durchmusterung objects