Wezen is a yellow-white supergiant in Canis Major, a distant and enormously luminous star whose Arabic name, like that of Wazn, means weight.
At a glance
| type | yellow-white supergiant (class F) |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 1,610 light-years (493 pc) |
| its light left it | 1,610 years ago |
| luminosity | 40,200 × the Sun |
| radius | 171 × the Sun |
| surface temperature | 6,250 K |
| constellation | Canis Major (Great Dog) |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Wezen
Wezen is a supergiant: a massive star that has used up its core hydrogen and swollen to an immense size, far larger than the Sun, its surface now yellow-white. It is one of the most luminous stars visible to the eye, and it is near the end of its short life.
In the Great Dog it marks the hindquarters, forming a triangle with Adhara and Aludra. The name is Arabic for weight, the same word as Wazn in Columba. Stars of its mass are expected to end as supernovae.
What you see in the piece
From Earth Wezen is just another star of the Dog; in the piece it lies far behind Sirius, and its brightness from so far away shows how powerful it is.
Measured or modelled
That Wezen will end as a supernova is inferred from its mass and stage of life, which are estimated from models.
Questions
What does Wezen mean?
Wezen comes from Arabic for weight; it marks the hindquarters of Canis Major.
How far away is Wezen?
Wezen is 1,610 light-years (493 pc) from the Sun.