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Birdun

Al Birdhaun, Epsilon Centauri

Proper NamesBirdun, Al Birdhaun
Bayer DesignationEpsilon Centauri
Flamsteed NumberNone
HR (BSC)5132
HD118716
ConstellationCentaurus
Right Ascension13h 39m 53s
Declination-53° 27' 59"
Distance427 light years
131 parsecs
MagnitudeApparent: +2.3
Absolute: -3.3
Spectral ClassB1III Blue Giant
Optimum VisibilityApril / May (Usually visible from southern latitudes)
NotesA highly luminous blue star on the edges of the band of the Milky Way in the sky, the pulsating giant Birdun is nearly two thousand times brighter than the Sun in visible light, and emits more than 18,000 times as much energy across all wavelengths.

A blue star in the southern parts of the constellation Centaurus, Birdun lies a few degrees northwestward of Alpha Centauri and Hadar, the two brightest stars in the constellation. The name Birdun comes from the Arabic Al Birdhaun (a form sometimes still used for the star's name) meaning 'the packhorse'.

Birdun is a blue giant star some 430 light years from the Sun, though the term 'giant' here is specifically a reference to the immense amount of energy radiated by the star rather than its physical size. Nonetheless Birdun is considerably larger than the Sun, with more than six times its diameter. Though young by stellar standards (it is thought to be some 16 million years old, less than 1% of the Sun's age) it emits about 18,000 times as much energy and is rapidly progressing through its life cycle.

This is a variable star of the Beta Cephei type, in which processes deep within the star cause energy to build up and be emitted in pulses from its surface. This process is relatively rapid, and in Birdun's case the star's magnitude pulses by 0.02 in periods of a little over four hours each.

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