Alpha Pyxidis, Latinised from α Pyxidis, is a giant star in the constellation Pyxis. It is the brightest star in Pyxis, and is easily visible to the naked eye. It has a stellar classification of B1.5III and is a Beta Cephei variable. This star has more than ten times the mass of the Sun and is more than six times the Sun's radius. The surface temperature is 24,300 K and the star is about 10,000 times as luminous as the Sun. Stars such as this with more than 10 solar masses are expected to end their life by exploding as a supernova.
Naming
In Chinese, 天狗 (Tiān Gǒu), meaning Celestial Dog, refers to an asterism consisting of α Pyxidis, e Velorum, f Velorum, β Pyxidis, γ Pyxidis and δ Pyxidis. Consequently, α Pyxidis itself is known as 天狗五 (Tiān Gǒu wǔ, English: the Fifth Star of Celestial Dog).5
External links
- Kaler, James. "Alpha Pyxidis". University of Illinois. Retrieved 2010-02-23.
References
Hiltner, W. A.; Garrison, R. F.; Schild, R. E. (July 1969). "MK Spectral Types for Bright Southern OB Stars". Astrophysical Journal. 157: 313. Bibcode:1969ApJ...157..313H. doi:10.1086/150069. https://doi.org/10.1086%2F150069 ↩
Hubrig, S.; et al. (January 2009). "New magnetic field measurements of beta Cephei stars and Slowly Pulsating B stars". Astronomische Nachrichten. 330 (4): 317. arXiv:0902.1314. Bibcode:2009AN....330..317H. doi:10.1002/asna.200811187. S2CID 17497112. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier) ↩
Kilian, J. (February 1994). "Chemical abundances in early B-type stars. 5: Metal abundances and LTE/NLTE comparison". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 282 (3): 867–873. Bibcode:1994A&A...282..867K. /wiki/Bibcode_(identifier) ↩
Reed, B. Cameron (June 28, 2005). "New Estimates of the Solar-Neighborhood Massive-Stars Birthrate and the Galactic Supernova Rate". The Astronomical Journal. 130 (4): 1652–1657. arXiv:astro-ph/0506708. Bibcode:2005AJ....130.1652R. doi:10.1086/444474. S2CID 119515135. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier) ↩
(in Chinese) AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) 天文教育資訊網 2006 年 7 月 17 日 Archived 2012-02-04 at the Wayback Machine http://aeea.nmns.edu.tw/2006/0607/ap060717.html ↩