Diadem is the star lettered alpha in Coma Berenices, a yellow-white pair of near-twin stars that marks the jewelled crown of Queen Berenice.
At a glance
| type | yellow-white star (class F) |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 58.1 light-years (17.8 pc) |
| its light left it | 58.1 years ago |
| luminosity | 5.19 × the Sun |
| radius | 1.72 × the Sun |
| surface temperature | 6,650 K |
| constellation | Coma Berenices (Berenice's Hair) |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Diadem
Diadem is a yellow-white star of class F, somewhat larger and hotter than the Sun. It is a close binary of two very similar stars, whose orbit we see almost exactly edge-on, so the two appear to move back and forth along a line rather than around each other.
Coma Berenices represents the hair of Berenice, a queen of Egypt, and the name Diadem refers to the crown she wore. Despite its letter it is not the brightest star of the faint constellation; it lies between Boötes and Leo.
What you see in the piece
The constellation is a faint scatter seen from Earth. In the piece Diadem is one of its few stars bright enough to show; fly away and it fades below the eye’s limit fast.
Measured or modelled
The card treats Diadem as a single star; its light is the sum of two similar stars.
Questions
How far away is Diadem?
Diadem is 58.1 light-years (17.8 pc) from the Sun, so its light left it 58.1 years ago.