Denebola Star Facts (Beta Leonis)

Denebola (Beta Leonis) is a main sequence star located in the constellation of Leo, The Lion. Denebola is a major star and forms part of the constellation.

Based on the spectral type (A3Vvar), Denebola's colour is blue - white, although not the hottest stars, they are considerably hotter than our own star which is white. The meaning of Denebola "tail of the lion" which is apt considering where it is located in the constellation.

Denebola is the 59th brightest star in the night sky and the 3rd brightest star in Leo based on the Hipparcos 2007 apparent magnitude. Denebola is a naked eye star and can be seen on a clear night without binoculars or a telescope. Although, they may have similar names, Deneb is a distinct separate star in the constellation of Cygnus.

Facts

• There are no known Extrasolar Planet orbiting the star.
• Denebola is the traditional/proper name for the star, whilst Beta Leonis is the Bayer Designation for the star. The Beta star is the second brightest in the constellation.
• Denebola is a Delta Scuti type variable star. Delta Scuti Variables are variable stars that exhibit the same pattern of variability as the first to be discovered of the group, Delta Scuti.
• List of stars with the same spectral type as Denebola, A3Vvar. *Note* - This star's spectral type comes from either the Hipparcos catalogue or Simbad, not the Michigan classification.
  • Megrez (Ursa Major)

Location

The location of the Denebola in the night sky is determined by the right ascension (R.A.) and declination (Dec.). These are equivalent to the Longitude and Latitude on Earth. The Right Ascension (Longitude) is expressed in time (hh:mm:ss) and is how far the star is along Earth's celestial equator. If the R.A. is positive, then it's eastwards and vice versa.

The Declination (Latitude) is how far north or south the object is compared to the celestial equator and is expressed in degrees. If the value is positive, it is north of the celestial equator. For Denebola, the location is 11h 49m 03.88 and +14° 34' 20.4 .

Based on the location of Leo, Denebola can be located in the northern hemisphere of the celestial sky. The celestial hemisphere is equivalent to the hemispheres on Earth. Denebola is on the Ecliptic. The Ecliptic is the path that the Earth takes as it orbits the Sun. As the Earth is titled, we therefore have Celestial and Ecliptic hemispheres and they can be different for a star. The constellation can be seen for most part of the year and best seen in late winter and early spring. The only time the constellation is not visible is between August and December.

Physical Properties

Denebola Colour and Type

Denebola spectral type of A3Vvar which means its colour and type is blue - white main sequence star. There is no relationship between colour and size. For example, a red star can be large or small. Small stars are more energy efficient than larger stars and live longer.

Denebola Temperature

Denebola effective temperature is 8,630 Kelvin which is hotter than our own Sun's effective temperature, which is 5,777 Kelvin. The uncertainty range for the effective temperature is between -8480 and +8780.

Luminosity

Luminosity is the amount of energy a star pumps out relative to the amount that our star, the Sun, gives out. Our star, the Sun's value is 1. Denebola luminosity figure of 1.176 is based on the value in the Simbad Hipparcos Extended Catalogue at the University of Strasbourg from 2012. The star generates more energy than our star.

Size (Radius)

Denebola radius has been calculated as being 1.728 times bigger than the Sun. The Sun's radius is 695,800km, therefore, the Denebola's radius is an estimated 1,202,342.4.km. If you need the star's diameter, you just need to multiply the radius by 2. The error range for the radius is between 1.69100 and 1.76500.

Magnitude

A number represents a star’s magnitude, whether apparent/visual or absolute. The smaller the number, the brighter the star is. Our own Sun is the brightest star and therefore has the lowest of all magnitudes, -26.74. A faint star will have a high number.

Denebola apparent magnitude is 2.14, which is a measure of the star's brightness as seen from Earth. Apparent Magnitude is also known as Visual Magnitude.

If you use the 1997 parallax value, Denebola' absolute magnitude is 1.92. If you use the 2007 parallax value, Denebola' absolute magnitude is 1.93. Absolute Magnitude is the star's apparent magnitude from 10 parsecs or 32.6 light-years. The magnitude assumes nothing is between the object and the viewer, such as dust clouds. To compare different stars' actual brightness, you would best use Absolute rather than Apparent Magnitude.

Denebola is visible from Earth without needing binoculars or a telescope. The lower the Apparent Magnitude of a star or other object is, the easier it is to see in the night sky. An object with a magnitude greater than 6.5 cannot be seen without a telescope or other device.

Meteor Showers

There are 1 meteor showers that radiate from a location near Denebola during the year.

• Beta Leonids Meteor Shower Feb 14 - Apr 25 (Peak: 19th Mar).

Distance from Earth

Denebola distance from Earth is 36.18 light-years away from Earth or 11.09 parsecs. If you want that in miles, it is about 212,688,666,001,783.01, based on 1 Ly = 5,878,625,373,183.61 miles. The distance is calculated using the parallax from the original Hipparcos data released in 1997 which is 90.16000.

In 2007, Hipparcos data was revised with a new parallax of 90.91000, which puts the Denebola distance from Earth as 35.88 light-years or 11.00 parsecs. It should not be taken as though the star is moving closer or further away from Earth. It is purely that the distance was recalculated.

An Astronomical Unit is the distance between Earth and the Sun. The number of A.U. is the number of times that the star is from the Earth compared to the Sun. When you use the 2007 distance, Denebola is roughly 2,268,897.059 Astronomical Units from the Earth/Sun give or take a few.

Denebola Galacto-Centric Distance is 7,401 Parsecs or 24,139.349 Light Years. The Galacto-Centric Distance is the distance from the Denebola to the Centre of the Galaxy which is Sagittarius A*.

Travel Time

The time it takes to travel to Denebola depends on how fast you are going. U.G. has done some calculations as to how long it will take to go at differing speeds. A note about the calculations, when I'm talking about years, I'm talking about non-leap years only (365 days).

The New Horizons space probe is the fastest one that we've sent into space at the time of writing. Its primary mission was to visit Pluto, which at the time of launch (2006), Pluto was still a planet.

Mach 1 is the speed of sound; Mach 2 is twice the speed. |Before retiring, Concorde was the fastest commercial aeroplane and the only passenger jet that could do Mach 2.

For some small screens, you may need to swipe the table to see the information. If you need an explanation, hover over the bold text. At methods are assuming you have unlimited fuel and travel at a constant speed.

• Walking - 6,015,431,162.13
• Car - 343,738,923.55
• Airbus A380 - 32,692,560.664
• Mach 1 - 31,360,220.012
• Mach 2 - 17,770,845.383
• New Horizons - 661,036.391
• Speed of Light - 35.88

Radial Velocity and Proper Motion

In simplestic terms, all non-rogue stars, like planets, orbit around a central object, although that is actually not true. Where is the centre of the Solar System. For simplicity it's the central star, such as the Sun. In the case of a star, it's the galactic centre.

The constellations we see today will be different than they were 50,000 years ago or 50,000 years from now.

Proper motion details the movements of these stars and is measured in milliarcseconds. Denebola is moving -114.67 ± 0.31 milliarcseconds/year towards the north and -497.68 ± 0.52 milliarcseconds/year east if we saw them in the horizon.

The radial velocity, the speed at which the Denebola is towards the Sun, is -0.20000 km/s with an error of about 0.50 km/s. When the value is negative, the star and the Sun are getting closer to one another; likewise, a positive number means that two stars are moving away. It's nothing to fear as the stars are so far apart they won't collide in our lifetime, if ever.