Kappa Virginis Explained

Kappa Virginis (κ Virginis, abbreviated Kappa Vir, κ Vir), officially named Kang,[1] is a solitary star in the zodiac constellation of Virgo. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 4.18, which is sufficiently bright to be seen with the naked eye. Based upon stellar parallax measurements, the distance to this star is about 255 light-years.

Nomenclature

κ Virginis (Latinised to Kappa Virginis) is the star's Bayer designation.

In Chinese, Chinese: 亢宿 (Chinese: Kàng Sù), meaning Neck, refers to an asterism consisting of Kappa Virginis, Iota Virginis, Phi Virginis and Lambda Virginis.[2] Consequently, Kappa Virginis itself is known as Chinese: 亢宿一 (Chinese: Káng Sù yī), "the First Star of Neck".[3]

In 2016, the IAU organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN)[4] to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN approved the name Kang for this star on 30 June and it is now so included in the List of IAU-approved Star Names.[1]

Properties

This is an orange-hued K-type giant star with a stellar classification of K2/3 III. It has about 146% of the mass of the Sun, but at an estimated age of 9.7 billion years it has evolved and expanded to over 25 times the Sun's radius. As a consequence, it shines with around 229 times the solar luminosity. The effective temperature of the star's outer atmosphere is 4,235 K.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Naming Stars . IAU.org . 16 December 2017.
  2. 中國星座神話, written by 陳久金. Published by 台灣書房出版有限公司, 2005, .
  3. 香港太空館 - 研究資源 - 亮星中英對照表, Hong Kong Space Museum. Accessed on line November 23, 2010.
  4. Web site: IAU Working Group on Star Names (WGSN). 22 May 2016.