Beta Pegasi (β Pegasi, abbreviated Beta Peg, β Peg), formally named Scheat , is a

red giant A red giant is a luminous giant star of low or intermediate mass (roughly 0.3–8 solar masses ()) in a late phase of stellar evolution. The outer atmosphere is inflated and tenuous, making the radius large and the surface temperature around or ...

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth make ...

and the second-brightest star (after Epsilon Pegasi) in the constellation of

Pegasus Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...

. It forms the upper right corner of the

Great Square of Pegasus Pegasus is a constellation in the northern sky, named after the winged horse Pegasus in Greek mythology. It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, and is one of the 88 constellations recognised today. Wit ...

, a prominent rectangular asterism.

Nomenclature

''β Pegasi'' ( Latinised to ''Beta Pegasi'') is the star's

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. T ...

. It bore the traditional name of ''Scheat'', a name that had also been used for

Delta Aquarii Delta Aquarii (δ Aquarii, abbreviated Delta Aqr, δ Aqr), officially named Skat , is the third-brightest star in the constellation of Aquarius. The apparent visual magnitude is 3.3, which can be seen with the naked eye. The distance to th ...

. The name was derived from the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a 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. E.Watson; Walte ...

''Al Sā'id'' "the upper arm", or from ''Sa'd''. In 2016, the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach ...

organised a

Working Group on Star Names The International Astronomical Union (IAU) established a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) in May 2016 to catalog and standardize List of proper names of stars, proper names for stars for the international astronomical community. It operates under ...

(WGSN) to catalog and standardise 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 ''Scheat'' for this star (the name ''Skat'' was later approved for Delta Aquarii). In Chinese, (), meaning '' Encampment'', refers to an asterism consisting β Pegasi and

α Pegasi Alpha Pegasi (α Pegasi, abbreviated Alpha Peg, α Peg), formally named Markab , is the third-brightest star in the constellation of Pegasus and one of the four stars in the asterism known as the Great Square of Pegasus. Properties Alp ...

. 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 oft ...

for β Pegasi itself is (), "the Second Star of Encampment".

Distance and properties

Based upon

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 object ...

measurements, Beta Pegasi is located about from the Sun. It is unusual among bright stars in having a relatively cool surface temperature compared to stars like the Sun. This star has a

stellar classification In astronomy, stellar classification is the classification of stars based on their spectral characteristics. Electromagnetic radiation from the star is analyzed by splitting it with a prism or diffraction grating into a spectrum exhibiting t ...

of M2.3 II–III, which indicates the

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 color ...

has characteristics partway between a

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, ...

and a

giant star 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 ...

. It has expanded until it is some 95 times as large, and has a total

luminosity Luminosity is an absolute measure of radiated electromagnetic power (light), the radiant power emitted by a light-emitting object over time. In astronomy, luminosity is the total amount of electromagnetic energy emitted per unit of time by a s ...

of 1,500 times that of the Sun. The

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 the star's outer envelope is about 3,700 K, giving the star the characteristic orange-red hue of an M-type star. The

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 ...

is sufficiently cool for molecules of

titanium oxide Titanium oxide may refer to: * Titanium dioxide Titanium dioxide, also known as titanium(IV) oxide or titania , is the inorganic compound with the chemical formula . When used as a pigment, it is called titanium white, Pigment White 6 (PW6), o ...

to form. Beta Pegasi is a

semi-regular variable In astronomy, a semiregular variable star, a type of variable star, is a giant or supergiant of intermediate and late (cooler) spectral type showing considerable periodicity in its light changes, accompanied or sometimes interrupted by various irre ...

with a period of 43.3 days and a brightness that varies from magnitude +2.31 to +2.74 (averaging 2.42). It is losing mass at a rate at or below 10⁻⁸ times the

Sun's mass 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 of ...

per year, which is creating an expanding shell of gas and dust with a radius of about 3,500 times the Sun's radius (16

astronomical unit The astronomical unit (symbol: au, or or AU) is a unit of length, roughly the distance from Earth to the Sun and approximately equal to or 8.3 light-minutes. The actual distance from Earth to the Sun varies by about 3% as Earth orbi ...

s).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beta Pegasi Pegasi, Beta M-type bright giants M-type giants Pegasus (constellation) Scheat Pegasi, 53 8775 217906 113881 BD+27 4480 Semiregular variable stars Emission-line stars TIC objects