Deneb

Encyclopedia : D : DE : DEN : Deneb

α Cygni, Alpha Cyg, 50 Cyg, Arided, Aridif, Gallina, Arrioph, HR 7924, BD +44°3541, HD 197345, SAO 49941, FK5: 777, HIP 102098.

|} Deneb (α Cyg / α Cygni / Alpha Cygni) is the brightest star in the constellation Cygnus and one of the brightest stars in the night sky, with apparent magnitude 1.25. Deneb is also one of the most luminous stars known. It is, or has been, known by a number of other traditional names, including Arided, Aridif, but today these are almost entirely forgotten.

Contents

1 Distance and physical characteristics
2 Name
3 Mythology
4 In fiction
5 External links

Distance and physical characteristics

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Deneb's absolute magnitude is −8.73, placing it among the most luminous stars known.

Deneb's exact distance from the Earth is uncertain. The most likely distance is 3,200 light years, but the parallax uncertainties do not rule out a distance as close as 2,100 light years or as far as 7,400 light years. This distance uncertainty makes determining many of Deneb's other properties similarly imprecise.

Estimates for Deneb's luminosity range from about 60,000 times the brightness of our Sun (if Deneb is 1600 light years away) to 250,000 times the Sun's brightness (if 3,200 light years away).^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]} If Deneb were a point source of light at the Sun's distance from Earth, it would be far brighter than most industrial lasers—It generates more light in one day than the Sun does in 140 years. At the distance of Sirius, it would be brighter than a full moon.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}

Based on its temperature and luminosity and also on direct measurements of its tiny angular diameter (a mere 0.002 second of arc), Deneb appears to have a diameter about 200 to 300 times that of the Sun; if placed at the center of our Solar System, Deneb would extend to the orbit of the Earth.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]} It is one of the largest stars known and the most powerful class A star known.

A star of spectral type A2Ia, Deneb has a surface temperature of 8,400 kelvins. Deneb is the prototype of a class of variable stars known as Alpha Cygni variables. Its surface undergoes non-radial fluctuations, which cause its brightness and spectral type to change slightly.

Deneb's mass is estimated at 20 to 25 solar masses.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]} As a blue giant, its high mass and temperature mean that the star will have a short lifespan and will probably become a supernova within a few million years. It has already stopped fusing hydrogen in its core.

Deneb's solar wind causes it to lose mass at a rate of 0.8 millionth of a solar mass per year, a hundred thousand times the flow rate from the Sun.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}

Name

The name is from dheneb, the Arabic for "tail", from the phrase ذنب الدجاجة anab ad-dajājah, or "tail of the hen". Similar names were given to at least seven different stars, most notably Deneb Kaitos, the brightest star in the constellation Cetus, and Denebola, the second brightest star in Leo.

Mythology

In the Chinese love story of Qi Xi, Deneb marks the magpie bridge across the Milky Way which allows the separated lovers Niu Lang (Altair) and Zhi Nü (Vega) to be reunited on one special night of the year in late summer. In other versions of the story Deneb is a fairy who acts as chaperone when the lovers meet across the bridge of magpies.

In fiction

In the episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before", Captain Kirk and Gary Mitchell briefly mention a night Mitchell spent on Deneb IV. Mitchell describes the Denebian woman involved as "a nova". Mitchell's medical record mentions that the inhabitants of Deneb IV are telepathic.
In the episode "The Trouble With Tribbles", Korax describes Captain Kirk as being a Denebian slime devil.
Deneb IV is also mentioned in the episode "Encounter at Farpoint".
Deneb is also the name of the witch from Zenobia in the Ogre Battle video game series. She is a magical alchemist of sorts, using her arcane knowledge and power to create the demihuman race of Pumpkinheads. She has the distinction of being the only character to appear in every Ogre Battle title to date. She is one of many characters in the game who is named after a star.
Deneb is the home of Jeff Raven in the Talents series of books (The Rowen, Damia, Damia's Children, Lyon's Pride, The Tower and the Hive) by Anne McCaffrey. The planet is the first human planet in the series to be attached by the bug-like Hive.
Deneb is also the location of a major battle in the computer game Freespace 2 between the Galactic Terran Vasudan Alliance and the Neo-Terran Front during the late 24th century.
Deneb exists in the Isaac Asimov universe in the short story The Machine that Won the War.

External links

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