Denebola marks the tail of Leo, a nearby white star whose name means the lion’s tail and which forms one corner of the Spring Triangle.
At a glance
| type | white star (class A) |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 35.9 light-years (11 pc) |
| its light left it | 35.9 years ago |
| luminosity | 16.5 × the Sun |
| radius | 1.78 × the Sun |
| surface temperature | 8,720 K |
| constellation | Leo (Lion) |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Denebola
The facts describe a white star a little larger and much brighter than the Sun, still burning hydrogen in its core and spinning fast. Its infrared glow reveals a disc of cold dust around it, debris of the kind left by colliding bodies, as around Vega.
The name is from the Arabic dhanab al-asad, the tail of the lion. It sits at the eastern tip of the triangle of the hindquarters, with Zosma and Chertan.
With Arcturus and Spica it makes the Spring Triangle, a large figure of bright stars that dominates the evening sky in northern spring.
What you see in the piece
In the piece Denebola is close to the Sun, so it is one of the first stars of Leo you reach; behind it, Regulus and the Sickle lie at quite other depths.
Questions
What is the Spring Triangle?
A large triangle of bright stars, Arcturus, Spica and Denebola, prominent in the evening sky of northern spring.
How far away is Denebola?
Denebola is 35.9 light-years (11 pc) from the Sun; its light left it 35.9 years ago.