Alfirk (Beta Cephei)

X-ray image of Alfirk (Chandra)

The second brightest star in the constellation Cepheus and the prototype Beta Cephei star. Its Arabic name (also spelled "Alphirk") may refer to "the two stars" (the other being Alderamin) or may come from a phrase meaning "flock of sheep."

A giant B star, Alfirk's chief period is 4.57 hours, during which it varies from magnitude 3.16 to 3.27 and back. Like all Beta Cephei stars, however, Alfirk pulsates with many periods at once, smaller changes taking place with a variety of other periods between four and five hours, in addition to 6- and 12-day rotational modulations. It is also a Be star that sheds matter and has a magnetic field about 100 times stronger than Earth's. Beta Cephei has a hot corona that radiates about 2,000 times more X-ray power than the Sun – activity thought to be related to the star's advanced stage of evolution.

Two smaller, dimmer A stars accompany it: the inner, about 45 AU away with an orbital period of some 90 years; the outer, easily seen in a small telescope, at least 2,400 AU away with a period of at least 30,000 years.

visual magnitude	3.23
absolute magnitude	-3.08
spectral type	B2III
surface temperature	26,700 K
luminosity	14,600 L_sun
mass	12 M_sun
distance	595 light-years
position	R.A. 21h 28m 39.6s, Dec. +70° 33' 39"
other designations	8 Cephei, HD 205021, HR 8238, SAO 10057, FK5 809, BD +69 1173, HIP 106032

Related category

• NOTABLE STARS

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