Vindemiatrix is a yellow giant in Virgo whose name means the grape-gatherer, from the time of year it first appeared in the dawn sky.
At a glance
| type | yellow giant (class G) |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 110 light-years (33.6 pc) |
| its light left it | 110 years ago |
| luminosity | 86.3 × the Sun |
| radius | 11 × the Sun |
| surface temperature | 5,310 K |
| constellation | Virgo (Maiden) |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Vindemiatrix
Vindemiatrix is a yellow giant of class G, a star that has finished burning hydrogen in its core and swollen far beyond the Sun’s size. It is slightly cooler than the Sun but far more luminous.
Its Latin name, the grape-gatherer, follows an older Greek name with the same meaning: in antiquity its first appearance in the morning sky before sunrise marked the start of the grape harvest. On the sky it lies north-east of Porrima.
What you see in the piece
In the piece Vindemiatrix shows the faint yellow of a giant cooler than the white stars around it. Fly out and it drifts away from Porrima, which lies much closer.
Questions
What does Vindemiatrix mean?
It is Latin for the grape-gatherer: its rising before dawn once marked the start of the grape harvest.