Beta Librae

Starbox begin
name=Beta Librae Starbox observe
epoch=J2000
ra=15^h 17^m 00.47^s
dec=−09° 22' 58.3"
appmag_v= 2.61
constell=Libra Starbox character
class=B8V
b-v=−0.11
u-b=−0.36
variable=Suspected Starbox astrometry
radial_v=−35.2
prop_mo_ra=−0.096
prop_mo_dec=−0.019
parallax=20.38
p_error=0.87
absmag_v=-0.84 Starbox detail
radius=1.2
luminosity=130 | temperature=12,000
rotation=230 km/sStarbox catalog
names=Zubenelschemali, 27 Librae, HR 5685, BD -08°3935, HD 135742, GC 20539, SAO 140430, FK5 564, NSV 7009, HIP 74785. Galactic Coordinates: l° 352.0, b° +39.2

Beta Librae (β Lib / β Librae) is the brightest star in the constellation Libra. It also has the traditional name Zubeneschamali (pronEng|ˌzubənˌεʃːɨˈmeɪli) and the Latin name Lanx Australis ("The southern scale of the balance"). The name "Zubeneschamali" is derived from the Arabic الزبن الشمالية ("al-zuban al-šamāliyyah") meaning "The Northern Claw".cite web|title=LIBRA – A Balanced View|work=Auckland Astronomical Society|url=http://www.astronomy.org.nz/aas/Journal/Libra-BalancedView.asp|author=AAS|year=2006|accessdate=2006-07-03] (broken link)

Description

Beta Librae is a blue dwarf star of spectral type B8 (main sequence star), a little less evolved than Sirius. It has apparent magnitude 2.7.

At a distance of 160 light years from Earth, it is about 130 times more luminous than the Sun and has a surface temperature of 12,000 kelvins, double that of the Sun. This high temperature produces light with a simple spectrum, making it ideal for examining the interstellar gas and dust between us and the star. Like many stars of its kind, it is spinning rapidly, over 100 times faster than the Sun. This type of hydrogen-fusing star often appears blue-white, but Beta Librae is often described as greenish, the only greenish star visible to the naked eye.cite web|title=Zubeneschamali|author=Jim Kaler|url=http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/zubenes.html|work=Stars|year=2006|accessdate=2006-07-03]

The small periodic variations in the magnitude of the Beta Librae imply the presence of a companion star which is not directly observable from earth.cite web|title=Zuben Elschemali|work=The Electronic Sky|author=Mark Fisher|year=1999-2006|url=http://www.glyphweb.com/esky/default.htm?http://www.glyphweb.com/esky/stars/zubenelschemali.html|accessdate=2006-07-03]

History

According to Eratosthenes Beta Librae was observed to be brighter than Antares. Ptolemy, three hundred and fifty years later, said it was as bright as Antares. The discrepancy may be due to Antares becoming brighter, but this is not known for certain. It could simply be caused by Beta Librae being a variable star with a variability of 0.03 of a magnitude.

References

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External links

Find more Arabic Star Names and their meanings at the following site:
*cite web|url=http://www.icoproject.org/star.html|title=Arabic Star Names|work=Islamic Crescents' Observation Project|author=Moh'd Odeh|year=1998-2006|accessdate=2006-07-03