Beta Apodis
Star in the constellation Apus
Beta Apodis is a star in the southern circumpolar constellation of Apus. Its identifier is a Bayer designation that is Latinized from β Apodis, and abbreviated Bet Aps or β Aps, respectively. The apparent visual magnitude of this star is +4.24, which is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye. It is located at a distance of approximately 156 light-years (48 parsecs) from Earth, as determined by parallax measurements. The star is drifting closer with a heliocentric radial velocity of −30 km/s.
The spectrum of this star matches a stellar classification of K0 III, which, according to models of stellar evolution, indicates that it is in the giant star stage, having exhausted the supply of hydrogen at its core. The measured angular diameter of this star is 2.09±0.11 mas. At the estimated distance of this star, this yields a physical size of about 11 times the radius of the Sun. The expanded outer atmosphere of Beta Apodis has an effective temperature of about 4,855 K. This heat is causing it to glow with the characteristic orange hue of a K-type star.
01Naming
In Chinese caused by adaptation of the European southern hemisphere constellations into the Chinese system, 異雀 (Yì Què), meaning Exotic Bird, refers to an asterism consisting of β Apodis, ζ Apodis, ι Apodis, γ Apodis, δ Octantis, δ1 Apodis, η Apodis, α Apodis and ε Apodis. Consequently, β Apodis itself is known as 異雀三 (Yì Què sān, English: the Third Star of Exotic Bird.)
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Beta Apodis”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Apus IAU.svg by IAU and Sky & Telescope magazine (Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg), CC BY 3.0
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