Shampagen's Astronomy

Taiyangshou

Designations

  • Bayer: χ UMa
  • Flamsteed: 63 UMa
  • Hipparchos: HIP 57399

Data

  • Constellation: Ursa Major
  • Apparent Magnitude: 3.72
  • Right Ascension (J2000): 11h46m01.41s
  • Declination (J2000): +47°47'01".1
  • Colour Index (B-V): 1.18
  • Distance: 198.39±1.33ly

Nomenclature

Taiyangshou

The star name was adapted from Chinese 太阳守 Tài​yangshǒu, the name of a single-star asterism in Ursa Major. While one might translate it as 'sun guardian', it likely represented the General or Chief Minister in charge of the 阳 yáng valve. While Xu, Pankenier and Jiang () identify this asterism with χ UMa, Xiaochun and Kistemaker () instead identified instead with ψ UMa.

Sources

  • IAU WGSN. IAU-Catalog of Star Names (CSN). link.
  • Stellarium Contributors. Stellarium Astronomy Software. link.
  • Xiaochun, S., Kistemaker, J. The Chinese sky during the Han : constellating stars and society (), pp. 153.