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A relatively faint star in the skies of Earth at magnitude +3.9, Kitalpha is nonetheless the brightest of the handful of stars that make up the tiny constellation of Equuleus the Foal, sandwiched between the triangular head of Pegasus and the leaping Dolphin shape of Delphinus in the sky.
Though it is designated Alpha Equulei on the Bayer system, the 'alpha' in its common name Kitalpha has no connection to the first letter of the Greek alphabet. Rather it comes from an anglicised from of Arabic Kitah al Faras, usually translated as meaning a 'piece, or section, of the horse'.
Kitalpha is a yellow star about 186 light years from the Sun. Belonging to the type known as subgiants, it is several times the Sun's diameter, and generates far more energy. Kitalpha is a binary system: the main yellow subgiant has a dwarf companion belonging to the A-type or White spectral classification.
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