Mahasim is a white star on the pentagon of Auriga, hot and chemically peculiar, its Arabic name meaning the Charioteer’s wrist.
At a glance
| type | white star (class A) |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 166 light-years (50.8 pc) |
| its light left it | 166 years ago |
| luminosity | 248 × the Sun |
| radius | 5.57 × the Sun |
| surface temperature | 9,700 K |
| constellation | Auriga (Charioteer) |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Mahasim
Mahasim is a hot white star, larger and much brighter than the Sun, still burning hydrogen in its core. Its spectrum shows unusually strong lines of silicon and other elements, gathered in patches on its surface by a strong magnetic field.
The name comes from Arabic for the wrist. Mahasim marks a corner of the five-sided figure of Auriga, between Menkalinan and Elnath. It has a faint companion close beside it, a test for small telescopes.
What you see in the piece
Mahasim sits on the same pentagon as Capella, yet lies farther from the Sun; fly out and its corner of the figure falls back.
Questions
What does Mahasim mean?
Mahasim comes from Arabic for the wrist, of the Charioteer Auriga.