Ruchbah is the white star in the W of Cassiopeia, a hot class A star whose Arabic name means the knee of the queen seated on her throne.
At a glance
| type | white star (class A) |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 99.4 light-years (30.5 pc) |
| its light left it | 99.4 years ago |
| luminosity | 75.3 × the Sun |
| radius | 4.32 × the Sun |
| surface temperature | 8,180 K |
| constellation | Cassiopeia (Seated Queen) |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Ruchbah
Ruchbah is a class A star, white, hotter and several times more luminous than the Sun, nearing the end of its hydrogen-burning life. It lies close to the Sun on the scale of the W, nearer than Schedar and Cih.
The name comes from the Arabic for the knee, its place in the figure of the seated queen. In the W it is the fourth star from the west, between the central Cih and the end star Segin. The W turns around the pole for northern observers, so it is upright, sideways or upside down depending on the hour.
What you see in the piece
Ruchbah shows as a white point in the piece. Fly towards Cassiopeia and it falls behind Caph and in front of Cih, Schedar and Segin: the W is a line seen end-on through a long stretch of space.
Questions
What does Ruchbah mean?
Ruchbah comes from the Arabic for the knee, the part of the seated queen Cassiopeia that it marks.
How far away is Ruchbah?
Ruchbah is 99.4 light-years (30.5 pc) from the Sun.