Nihal is a yellow giant in Lepus, the Hare at Orion’s feet, a star swollen past its prime whose Arabic name refers to camels quenching their thirst.
At a glance
| type | yellow giant (class G) |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 160 light-years (49.2 pc) |
| its light left it | 160 years ago |
| luminosity | 180 × the Sun |
| radius | 14.4 × the Sun |
| surface temperature | 5,560 K |
| constellation | Lepus (Hare) |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Nihal
Nihal is a giant: it has run out of hydrogen in its core and expanded, its surface cooling to a yellow close to the Sun’s while the star as a whole shines far more brightly. It is the second-brightest star of Lepus, just below Arneb.
Lepus crouches beneath Orion’s feet, hunted by the hunter and his dogs. In Arabic tradition its brighter stars were seen as camels drinking, and the name Nihal comes from that image.
What you see in the piece
Nihal sits next to Arneb in the sky, but Arneb is far more distant; fly out and the two halves of the Hare’s body draw apart.
Questions
What kind of star is Nihal?
Nihal is a yellow giant (class G), 14.4 times the Sun’s radius and 180 times as luminous.