Beta Arae

β Arae
Location of β Arae (circled)
Observation data
Epoch J2000      Equinox J2000
Constellation Ara
Right ascension 17h 25m 17.989s[1]
Declination −55° 31′ 47.574″[1]
Apparent magnitude (V) 2.84[2]
Characteristics
Evolutionary stage Red supergiant
Spectral type K0/1Ib[3]
U−B color index +1.56[4]
B−V color index +1.46[4]
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)−0.30±0.20[5] km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: −8.51[6] mas/yr
Dec.: −25.24[6] mas/yr
Parallax (π)4.5601 ± 0.2077 mas[1]
Distance713+39
−34 ly
(218.8+12
−10.4 pc)[7]
Absolute magnitude (MV)−3.494[8]
Details[9]
Mass5.89±0.07 or 7.89±0.4 M☉
Radius141.4±6.6 R☉
Luminosity5,774±535 L☉
Surface gravity (log g)0.97±0.06 cgs
Temperature4,232±17 K
Metallicity [Fe/H]0.5±0.1 dex
Rotational velocity (v sin i)5.4±1.0[5] km/s
Age50.1±4.4[10] Myr
Other designations
CPD−55°8100, FK5 645, HD 157244, HIP 85258, HR 6461, SAO 244725[11]
Database references
SIMBADdata

Beta Arae (β Ara, β Arae), is the brightest star in the constellation of Ara. It is a very luminous, relatively young supergiant star with an apparent magnitude of 2.84 and an absolute magnitude of -3.494.[2][8] It is located about 713 light-years from Earth.[7] At this distance, its apparent magnitude is diminished by 0.193 magnitudes due to interstellar extinction between Earth and the star.[9]

  1. ^ a b c Brown, A. G. A.; et al. (Gaia collaboration) (2021). "Gaia Early Data Release 3: Summary of the contents and survey properties". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 649: A1. arXiv:2012.01533. Bibcode:2021A&A...649A...1G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202039657. S2CID 227254300. (Erratum: doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202039657e). Gaia EDR3 record for this source at VizieR.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference scfs was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Houk1975 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference clpl4_99 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference aaa395_97 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference aaa474_2_653 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference b-j was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference casatella was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Soubiran2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference mnras410_1_190 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference SIMBAD was invoked but never defined (see the help page).