Gamma Serpentis (γ Serpentis, γ Ser) is 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

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 ...

Serpens Serpens ( grc, , , the Serpent) is a constellation in the northern celestial hemisphere. One of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, it remains one of the 88 modern constellations designated by the International ...

, in the part of the constellation that represents the serpent's head (Serpens Caput). It has 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 ...

+3.85, which means it is visible to the naked eye. 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 objects ...

measurements by the

Hipparcos ''Hipparcos'' was a scientific satellite of the European Space Agency (ESA), launched in 1989 and operated until 1993. It was the first space experiment devoted to precision astrometry, the accurate measurement of the positions of celestial obj ...

spacecraft, this star is approximately 36.7

light years 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 ...

from

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

Properties

Gamma Serpentis is an ordinary

F-type main sequence star An F-type main-sequence star (F V) is a main-sequence, hydrogen-fusing star of spectral type F and luminosity class V. These stars have from 1.0 to 1.4 times the mass of the Sun and surface temperatures between 6,000 and 7,600 K.Tables VII ...

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 F6 V. It is larger and more massive than the Sun, with three times the

solar 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 s ...

. Based upon its mass, it may have a

convection zone A convection zone, convective zone or convective region of a star is a layer which is unstable due to convection. Energy is primarily or partially transported by convection in such a region. In a radiation zone, energy is transported by radiation ...

in its core region. The

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 ...

along the equator is 10.2 km/s. It is younger than the Sun with an estimated age of 3.5 billion years. 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 atmosphere is 6,350 K, giving it the yellow-white-hued glow of an F-type star. Occasionally Gamma Serpentis is listed as having two 10th magnitude companions, but it appears that these stars are just optical neighbours.

Etymology

It was a member of indigenous Arabic asterism al-Nasaq al-Sha'āmī, "the Northern Line" of ''al-Nasaqān'' "the Two Lines", along with β Her (Kornephoros), γ Her (Hejian, Ho Keen) and β Ser (Chow). According to the catalogue of stars in the ''Technical Memorandum 33-507 - A Reduced Star Catalog Containing 537 Named Stars'', ''al-Nasaq al-Sha'āmī'' or Nasak Shamiya were the title for three stars: β Ser as ''Nasak Shamiya I'', γ Ser as ''Nasak Shamiya II'', γ Her as ''Nasak Shamiya III'' (exclude β Her). The star was later given the proper name Ainalhai, 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 ...

عين الحية ''‘Ayn al-Ḥayyah'' " the Serpent's Eye". 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 '' Right Wall of Heavenly Market Enclosure'', refers to an asterism which represents eleven old states in China and which marks the right borderline of the enclosure, consisting of γ Serpentis, β Herculis, γ Herculis, κ Herculis, β Serpentis, δ Serpentis, α Serpentis, ε Serpentis, δ Ophiuchi, ε Ophiuchi and ζ Ophiuchi. 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 γ Serpentis itself is (, en, the Fourth Star of Right Wall of Heavenly Market Enclosure), representing the state

Zheng Zheng may refer to: *Zheng (surname), Chinese surname (鄭, 郑, ''Zhèng'') *Zheng County, former name of Zhengzhou, capital of Henan, China *Guzheng (), a Chinese zither with bridges *Qin Shi Huang (259 BC – 210 BC), emperor of the Qin Dynasty, ...

(鄭) (or Ching),
AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) 天文教育資訊網 2006 年 6 月 24 日
/ref> together with 20 Capricorni (according to Ian Ridpath versionIan Ridpath's Startales - Capricornus the Sea Goat
/ref>) in '' Twelve States'' (asterism).

References

External links

Gamma Serpentis
by Professor Jim Kaler. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gamma Serpentis Serpentis, Gamma Serpens (constellation) F-type main-sequence stars Serpentis, Gamma Triple stars Serpentis, 41 078072 Suspected variables 5933 142860 Durchmusterung objects