Beta Tauri

"Elnath", "Alnath", and "Nath (star)" redirect here. For other topics, see El Nath (disambiguation) and Nath (disambiguation).

Beta Tauri is the second-brightest star in the constellation of Taurus. It has the official name Elnath; Beta Tauri is the current Bayer designation, which is Latinised from β Tauri and abbreviated Beta Tau or β Tau. The original designation of Gamma Aurigae is now rarely used. It is a chemically peculiar B7 giant star, 134 light years away from the Sun with an apparent magnitude of 1.65.

β Tauri
Location of β Tauri in Taurus (circled)
Observation data
Epoch J2000      Equinox J2000
Constellation Taurus
Pronunciation /ɛlˈnæθ/[1] or /ˈɛlnæθ/[2]
Right ascension 05h 26m 17.51312s[3]
Declination +28° 36′ 26.8262″[3]
Apparent magnitude (V) 1.65[4]
Characteristics
Spectral type B7III[5]
U−B color index −0.49[4]
B−V color index −0.13[4]
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)9.2[6] km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: +22.76[3] mas/yr
Dec.: −173.58[3] mas/yr
Parallax (π)24.36 ± 0.34 mas[3]
Distance134 ± 2 ly
(41.1 ± 0.6 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)−1.42[7]
Details
Mass5.0±0.1[8] M☉
Radius4.82±0.34[9] – 5.47±0.24[10] R☉
Luminosity564±20[10] L☉
Surface gravity (log g)3.63[10] cgs
Temperature13,600±100[9] K
Metallicity [Fe/H]+0.2[10] dex
Rotational velocity (v sin i)59[11] km/s
Age100±10[8] Myr
Other designations
Elnath, El Nath, Alnath, Gamma Aurigae, 112 Tauri, BD+28°795, FK5 202, GC 6681, HD 35497, HIP 25428, HR 1791, SAO 77168, CCDM 05263+2836
Database references
SIMBADdata
  1. ^ "Alnath". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kunitzsch was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  8. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference apj736_2_89 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference gordon2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference baines was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference hgmn was invoked but never defined (see the help page).