Beta Ursae Minoris

Starbox begin
name=Beta Ursae Minoris Starbox observe
epoch=J2000
ra=14^h 50^m 42.3^s
dec=+74° 09′ 20″
appmag_v=2.07cite web
title=Kochab (Beta Ursae Minoris)
publisher=
author=eSky
url=http://www.glyphweb.com/esky/stars/kochab.html
accessdate=2008-02-21]
constell=Ursa Minor Starbox character
class=K4 III
b-v=1.47
u-b=1.77
variable=? Starbox astrometry
radial_v=+16.8
prop_mo_ra=-32.29
prop_mo_dec=11.91
parallax=25.79
p_error=0.52
absmag_v=-0.88 Starbox detail
mass=4.4
radius=41
luminosity=500 | temperature=4,000
metal=?
rotation=~17 km/s.
age=? Starbox catalog
names=Kochab, Kocab, Kochah, 7 Ursae Minoris, "Al Kaukab al Shamaliyy", HR 5563, BD +74 595, HD 131873, GCTP 3373.00, SAO 8102, FK5 550, HIP 72607.

Beta Ursae Minoris (β UMi / β Ursae Minoris) is the second brightest star in the bowl of the "Little Dipper,"the constellation Ursa Minor. It also has the traditional name Kochab. Kochab's magnitude is 2.07. It is 16 degrees from Polaris. The star is an orange giant and is 126.4 ± 2.5 light years from Earth. It is 130 times more luminous than the Sun. Kochab has a surface temperature of approximately 4,000 K.

Kochab and its neighbor Pherkad are both naked eye stars. They served as twin pole stars, Earth's North pole stars, from 1500 B.C. until 500 A.D. Neither star was as proximitous to the pole as Polaris is now. Due to precession of the equinoxes, the previous holder of the title was Thuban, and the next was the present-day Polaris. This succession of pole stars is a result of earth's precessional motion.

The origin of the name Kochab is indistinct. It has sometimes been associated with a Hebrew word for "star". The name "Kochab" may originate from Arabic الكوكب "al-kawkab" and means simply "the star".

References

*Beyer Steven L., "The Star Guide", Little, Brown and Company, 1986.

Mythology: Bx Times Reporter, New Yorkhttp://www.webspawner.com/users/cosmic/