Wurren is a blue-white star of the southern constellation Phoenix, a system whose two main stars pass in front of each other and dim its light in turn.
At a glance
| type | blue-white star (class B) |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 299 light-years (91.6 pc) |
| its light left it | 299 years ago |
| luminosity | 515 × the Sun |
| radius | 3.8 × the Sun |
| surface temperature | 14,100 K |
| constellation | Phoenix (Phoenix) |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Wurren
Wurren is a class B star, hot and blue-white, much more luminous than the Sun. It is the main star of a multiple system: two hot stars orbit so closely, and so nearly edge-on to us, that each eclipses the other in turn, and the combined light dips at regular intervals.
Its name is one of those the International Astronomical Union took from Aboriginal Australian sky traditions, giving the southern sky names rooted in its oldest observers. Phoenix itself is a young figure, drawn by navigators of the far southern seas, and its brightest star is the orange giant Ankaa.
What you see in the piece
In the piece Wurren is a blue-white point, its colour set by its hot surface. Fly to it and the eclipsing pair is still too close to separate by eye at any ordinary distance.
Questions
What kind of star is Wurren?
Wurren is a hot blue-white star of class B in an eclipsing system, shining 515 times as brightly as the Sun.