Alpha Cephei, or Alderamin, is a fast-spinning star
Meet Alpha Cephei, in the constellation Cepheus the King. It’s spinning so fast that it appears like a slightly flattened beach ball. The post Alpha Cephei, or Alderamin, is a fast-spinning star first appeared on EarthSky .
Alpha Cephei, also known as Alderamin, is a fast-spinning star located in the constellation Cepheus the King. Astronomers have discovered that this star spins at a remarkable rate, faster than our sun. This rapid rotation has caused Alderamin to become an oblate shape, much like a partially deflated beach ball. The star is about 49 light-years away from Earth and is twice the mass of our sun, but it is significantly more luminous, shining at around magnitude 2.5.
It is classified as a Class A star, which indicates that it is evolving off the main sequence and is on its way to becoming a red giant. The star's fast rotation has resulted in a phenomenon called gravity darkening, where the surface brightness varies across the star due to differences in surface gravity and temperature. Alpha Cephei has been a pole star in the past and will be again in about 5,500 years, although it will not be as close to the north celestial pole as our current pole star, Polaris.
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