Alpha Librae

Alpha Librae (α Lib / α Librae) is the second brightest star in the constellation Libra (despite its Bayer designation as "alpha"). It also has the traditional name Zubenelgenubi. The name, from Arabic الزبن الجنوبي ("al-zuban al-janūbiyy"), means "southern claw" and was coined before Libra was recognized as distinct from Scorpius. The alternate names Kiffa Australis and Elkhiffa Australis, partial Latin translations of Arabic "al-kiffah al-janūbiyy", mean "southern pan (of the scales)".

Alpha Librae is located approximately 77 light years from the Sun. It is actually a visual binary consisting of two stars separated in the sky by an angular distance of 231" (3'51"). The brighter of the two is a white star of spectral type A3, with an apparent brightness of 2.8 and an absolute brightness of 1.1, designated alpha-2 Librae (α² Lib). Its companion is a type F4 star of apparent brightness 5.2 and absolute brightness 3.5, designated alpha-1 Librae (α¹ Lib).

Alpha Librae is close to the ecliptic so it can be easily occulted by the Moon and (very rarely) by planets. The next occultation by a planet will take place on 10 November 2052 with Mercury.Peuschel, Marco (2003). [http://www.marco-peuschel.de/planetensterne.html "Astronomische Ereignisse der besonderen Art"] . Retrieved July 10, 2005.]

The position angle of the companion is 314 degrees.

imbad Astronomical Data for Alpha Librae

The following tables provide astronomical data for each of the stellar components of the Alpha Librae system. The data was retrieved from the Simbad Astronomical Database:Starbox short
name=Alpha¹ Librae
epoch=J2000.0
constell=Libra
ra=14^h 50^m 41.26^s
dec=-15° 59' 49.5"
spectral=F3V
appmag_v=+5.15
absmag_v=+3.28
dist_ly=77
dist_pc=23.62
names=Kiffa Australis, 8 Librae, HR 5530, HD 130819, BD -15 3965, HIP 72603, SAO 158836, FK5 1387, GC 19970

Starbox short
name=Alpha² Librae
epoch=J2000.0
constell=Libra
ra=14^h 50^m 52.78^s
dec=-16° 02' 29.8"
spectral=A3IV
appmag_v=+2.75
absmag_v=+0.88
dist_ly=77
dist_pc=23.62
names=Kiffa Australis, 9 Librae, HR 5531, HD 130841, BD -15 3966, HIP 72622, SAO 158840, FK5 548, NSV 06827, GC 19975

References

*Kaler, Jim (2004). [http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/zubenel.html "STARS: Zubenelgenubi"] . Retrieved July 10, 2005.
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External links

* [http://www.alcyone.de/SIT/bsc/ Yale Bright Star Catalog; click on Libra]
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