Skat is a white star in Aquarius, its name from the Arabic for shin, lying near the radiant of the Delta Aquariid meteors that are named after it.
At a glance
| type | white star (class A) |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 161 light-years (49.2 pc) |
| its light left it | 161 years ago |
| luminosity | 117 × the Sun |
| radius | 4.73 × the Sun |
| surface temperature | 8,720 K |
| constellation | Aquarius (Water Bearer) |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Skat
It is a white star of class A, hotter, wider and far brighter than the Sun. It is Delta Aquarii, one of the brighter stars of a constellation made mostly of faint ones.
Its name comes from the Arabic al-sāq, “the shin”, for the leg of the water bearer. The Southern Delta Aquariid meteor shower takes its name from it, because the meteors seem to fan out from a point of sky close by.
What you see in the piece
Skat sits low and faint for northern observers. In the piece it is drawn at its true distance, well apart from the other stars of the water bearer when you leave Earth.
Questions
Why are the Delta Aquariids called that?
The Delta Aquariid meteors appear to radiate from a point near Skat, Delta Aquarii, so the shower is named after it.