NOTABLE STARS A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z                    HOME ABOUT CATEGORIES SITE MAP COPYRIGHT ADVERTISE CONTACT entire Web this site Naos (Zeta Puppis) A blue supergiant and the second brightest O star in the sky in terms of apparent magnitude. It is embedded in the Gum Nebula and used to be the Zeta star of Argo Navis (Jason’s vessel Argos) – the Greek naos meaning “ship” – before becoming Zeta in Puppis, the Stern, after the big constellation was broken up. Typical of its breed, Naos is blowing a fierce stellar wind, averaging 2,300 km/s and over a millionth of a solar mass a year (10 million times the rate lost by the Sun). This wind has been so well observed at wavelengths from radio wave to X-ray that it has become a major proving ground for stellar wind theorists. Naos is a classic O-type runaway star, having been ejected at high speed (nearly 100 km/s) from its place of origin in the neighboring constellation Vela. Over the past 1 to 2 million years – much of its brief life – it has covered some 400 light-years. Such stars are invariably single and spin much faster than normal O stars: in Naos’s case, at least 220 km/s at its equator (100 times the Sun’s rotation speed). Visual magnitude 2.21 Absolute magnitude -5.96 Spectral type O5IAf Surface temperature 42,400 K Luminosity 790,000 Lsun Mass 59 Msun Radius 20 Rsun Distance 1,400 light-years (430 pc) Position R.A. 08h 03m 35.1s, Dec. -40° 00' 12" Other designations Suhail Hadar, HR 3165, HD 66811, SAO 198752, FK5 306, CoD C-39 3939, CPD P-39 2011, HIP 39429 Related category    • NOTABLE STARS Also on this site: Encyclopedia of Alternative Energy & Sustainable Living Encyclopedia of History Transport Concepts & Designs (partner site) BACK TO TOP