Beta Camelopardalis, Latinised from β Camelopardalis, is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Camelopardalis. It is bright enough to be faintly visible to the naked eye, having 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 4.02. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 3.74 mas as seen from Earth, it is located roughly 870 light-years 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 moving closer with a radial velocity of −1.90 km/s and is most likely a single star. This is a yellow-hued G-type

supergiant Supergiants are among the most massive and most luminous stars. Supergiant stars occupy the top region of the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram with absolute visual magnitudes between about −3 and −8. The temperature range of supergiant stars spa ...

bright giant A giant star is a star with substantially larger radius and luminosity than a main-sequence (or ''dwarf'') star of the same surface temperature.Giant star, entry in ''Astronomy Encyclopedia'', ed. Patrick Moore, New York: Oxford University Press ...

with a stellar classification of G1 Ib–IIa. It is an estimated 60 million years old and is spinning with 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 bulg ...

of 11.7 km/s. This is an unusually high rate of rotation for an

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 ...

star of this type. One possible explanation is that it may have engulfed a nearby

giant planet The giant planets constitute a diverse type of planet much larger than Earth. They are usually primarily composed of low-boiling-point materials (volatiles), rather than rock or other solid matter, but massive solid planets can also exist. The ...

, such as a

hot Jupiter Hot Jupiters (sometimes called hot Saturns) are a class of gas giant exoplanets that are inferred to be physically similar to Jupiter but that have very short orbital periods (). The close proximity to their stars and high surface-atmosphere tem ...

. Beta Camelopardalis has 6.5 times the mass of the Sun and has expanded to around 58 the Sun's radius. The star is radiating 1,592 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 enlarged photosphere at an effective temperature of . It is a source of X-ray emission. β Cam has two visual companions: a 7th-magnitude A5-class star at an angular separation of 84 arcseconds; and a 12th-magnitude star at 15 arcseconds.

References

External links

HR 1603

CCDM J05034+6026

Image Beta Camelopardalis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beta Camelopardalis G-type supergiants G-type bright giants Double stars Camelopardalis (constellation) Camelopardalis, Beta BD+60 0856 Camelopardalis, 10 031910 023522

1603 Events January–June * February 25 – Dutch–Portuguese War: the Portuguese ship '' Santa Catarina'' is seized by Dutch East India Company ships off Singapore. The first permanent Dutch trading post in Indonesia is established ...