Alpha Camelopardalis (
Alpha Cam /
α Camelopardalis /
α Cam) is an O-type
supergiantSupergiants are among the most massive stars. They occupy the top region of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. In the Yerkes spectral classification, supergiants are class Ia or Ib . They typically have bolometric absolute magnitudes between -5 and -12...
starA star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
, with an apparent visual magnitude of approximately 4.301. It is the third brightest star in the
constellationIn modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....
of Camelopardalis, the first and second brightest being β Camelopardalis and
CS CamelopardalisCS Camelopardalis is a binary star in reflection nebulae vdB 14, in the constellation Camelopardalis. It was designated B Cam or 2H.Cam....
, respectively. This star has been thought to be a runaway star ejected from the OB association Cam OB1, but newer observations cast doubt on this. The star is an emission-line star and is losing mass rapidly, at a rate of approximately 6 millionths of a
solar massThe solar mass , , is a standard unit of mass in astronomy, used to indicate the masses of other stars and galaxies...
per year. The star is preceded by a bow shock visible to NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE. The star is travelling at a rate of somewhere between 680 and 4,200 kilometers per second: between 1.5 and 9.4 million mph.
It is the farthest constellational star from the sun.
Chinese name
In
ChineseThe Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
, , meaning
Right Wall of Purple Forbidden EnclosureThe Purple Forbidden enclosure is one of the San Yuan or Three enclosures. Stars and constellations of this group lie near the north celestial pole and visible all year from temperate latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere.-Asterisms:The asterisms are :...
, refers to an asterism consisting of α Camelopardalis, α Draconis,
κ DraconisKappa Draconis is a blue giant star located in the constellation Draco. At an apparent magnitude of 3.88, it is barely visible to the naked eye when artificial lighting from cities is present. Nevertheless, it is a powerful star, approximately five time as massive as the Sun...
,
λ DraconisLambda Draconis is a star in the constellation Draco. It has the traditional names Gianfar, Giansar, Juza, Giausar or Giauzar....
, 24 Ursae Majoris,
43 Camelopardalis43 Camelopardalis is a star in the constellation Camelopardalis.43 Camelopardalis is a blue-white B-type giant with an apparent magnitude of +5.11...
and
BK CamelopardalisBK Camelopardalis is a variable star in the Camelopardalis.-Chinese name:In Chinese, , meaning Right Wall of Purple Forbidden Enclosure, refers to an asterism consisting of BK Camelopardalis, α Draconis, κ Draconis, λ Draconis, 24 Ursae Majoris, 43 Camelopardalis and α Camelopardalis...
. Consequently, α Camelopardalis itself is known as , representing , meaning
Second Imperial Guard. 少衛 (Shǎowèi) is westernized into
Shaou Wei by R.H. Allen, the meaning is "Minor Guard", but it is not cleared designation
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