Bharani is a blue-white star in Aries named after a lunar mansion of Indian astronomy, the band of sky the Moon crosses on one night of its circuit.
At a glance
| type | blue-white star (class B) |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 166 light-years (50.8 pc) |
| its light left it | 166 years ago |
| luminosity | 149 × the Sun |
| radius | 2.92 × the Sun |
| surface temperature | 11,800 K |
| constellation | Aries (Ram) |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Bharani
Bharani is a class B star, hot and blue-white, more luminous than the Sun and a few times its size. It lies a little north of the bright line formed by Hamal, Sheratan and Mesarthim, and it is a modest naked-eye star.
Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union from the nakshatras of Indian astronomy, the divisions of the Moon’s path around the sky. Bharani is the nakshatra that includes this part of Aries, and the star is one of its markers.
What you see in the piece
Bharani is a blue-white point in the piece. Like the brighter stars of Aries, it scatters into its own place in depth once you leave the Earth.
Questions
Where does the name Bharani come from?
Bharani is a lunar mansion of Indian astronomy, one of the divisions of the Moon’s path; the star marks it in Aries.