Star
A fast-spinning white star and the brightest in Pictor, orbited by a companion every three and a half years.
| Type | Star |
|---|---|
| Distance from Earth | 97 ly |
| Diameter | 4,944,010 km |
| Mass | 3.18 × 10³⁰ kg |
| Temperature | 7,178°C |
| Apparent magnitude | 3.27 |
| Redshift | 0 |
| Hemisphere | Southern |
| Discovered | 1756 |
Stars spend most of their lives fusing hydrogen into helium in their core, and it's the balance between that outward pressure and gravity pulling inward that fixes how big and how bright a star gets.
At 4,944,010 km across, Alpha Pictoris is 3.5 times the diameter of the Sun.
Its mass is 1.6 times the mass of the Sun.
The light reaching us from Alpha Pictoris tonight left it around 97 years ago.
Its surface sits at 7,451 K, hotter than the Sun at 5,772 K, which is what sets its colour.
It has been on record since 1756.
Play today's Cosmodle