892 B
892 B
| name | constellation | created_by | created_date | updated_by | updated_date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erakis (μ Cep) | Cep | 8mag | 2022-01-21 17:00:00 | skybber | 2022-01-23 13:40:01.462285 |
William Herschel named the star "Garnet Star" for its striking, deep red colour - it is one of the reddest stars in the sky, a fact easily verifiable even to the unaided human eye. Even in a binocular or small telescope it provides a nice view. Gradually, when viewed through increasingly larger telescopes, it can take on an orange-red to orange-yellow hue. Its surface temperature is only 3,500 K, while its diameter is 70 times that of the Sun. By comparison, this M spectrum star is actually much brighter than another well-known red giant, Betelgeuse of Orion, equal to at least 174,000 Suns, and has an absolute magnitude of -8.3. We only see it as a faint star in the sky because of its great distance of 2,800 light years.