Beta Gruis

Starbox begin
name=Beta Gruis Starbox observe
epoch=J2000
ra=22^h 42^m 40.1^s
dec=-46° 53′ 05″
appmag_v=2.07
constell=Grus Starbox character
class=M5 III
b-v=1.60
u-b=1.67
variable=Irregular supergiant Starbox astrometry
radial_v=+2
prop_mo_ra=135.68
prop_mo_dec=-4.51
gal_lat=-57.9541
gal_lon=346.2669
parallax=19.17
p_error=0.75
absmag_v=-1.52 Starbox catalog
names=HR 8636, CD -47°14308, HD 214952, SAO 231258, FK5 856, CPD P-47 9896, HIP 112122.

Beta Gruis (β Gru / β Gruis) is a star in the constellation Grus, called by the name Gruid and sometimes by the name Alphaulka (الفولقة), dervived from the Arabic الفولقة الذنب الحوت الجنوبي "Al-Fawlqah Al-Dhanab Al-Hut Al-Janubiyy" meaning "Grazing Ones of the Tail of the Southern Whale", referring to Alpha Gruis and Beta Gruis appearing to graze or skim the southern horizon from mid-northern latitudes.

Beta Gruis is a type "Lc" giant star that varies irregularly in magnitude from 2.0 to 2.3. The estimated mass is about three times that of the Sun, and it has a surface temperature of approximately 3,400° K, just over half the the surface temperature of the sun. This low temperature accounts for the star's dull red color. The total luminosity is about 3,800 that of the Sun, and it has an estimated radius of 0.8 Astronomical Units, which is about 100 times that of the Sun.

Beta Gruis played a crucial part in Perth Observatory's tracking of Comet 2000WM1 Linear in December 2001 [http://www.perthobservatory.wa.gov.au/2001_12_01_astronews-archive.html] .

External links

* [http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/betagru.html Stars of the week article]

* [http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761587671/beta_gruis.html MSN Encarta]