Star
The brightest star in Equuleus, the second-smallest constellation, and a spectroscopic binary of a yellow giant and a white companion.
| Type | Star |
|---|---|
| Distance from Earth | 190 ly |
| Diameter | 12,812,700 km |
| Mass | 4.58 × 10³⁰ kg |
| Temperature | 5,707°C |
| Apparent magnitude | 3.92 |
| Redshift | 0 |
| Hemisphere | Northern |
| Discovered | 150 |
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 12,812,700 km across, Kitalpha is 9.2 times the diameter of the Sun.
Its mass is 2.3 times the mass of the Sun.
The light reaching us from Kitalpha tonight left it around 190 years ago.
Its surface sits at 5,980 K, hotter than the Sun at 5,772 K, which is what sets its colour.
It has been on record since the year 150.
Play today's Cosmodle