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David

Darling

Denebola (Beta Leonis)

Denebola

Close view of dacite lava from the May 1915 eruption of Lassen Peak, California. Credit: US Geological Survey.


Denebola (Beta Leonis) is the second brightest star in the constellation Leo and the easternmost of a prominent triangle of stars to the east of Regulus. It marks the Lion's tail, its name coming from an Arabic phrase that means exactly that. It is a main-sequence A star, a Delta Scuti star, and, most interestingly, like Vega, seems to be encircled by a disk of infrared-emitting dust. Viewed through a telescope, Denebola also appears to have an orange companion, but the two stars are not physically connected.

 

visual magnitude 2.14
absolute magnitude 1.91
spectral type A3V
surface temperature 8,500 K
luminosity 12 Lsun
distance 36 light-years
position RA 11h 49m 03.6s,
Dec +14° 34' 19"
other designations Deneb Aleet, 94 Leo, GJ 448,
HR 4534, BD +15°2383,
HD 102647, LHS 2462,
LTT 13249, GCTP 2738.00,
SAO 99809, FK5 444, HIP 57632