Lesson plan
Chi Centauri
Chi Centauri is a blue-white star in the southern constellation of Centaurus. Its name is a Bayer designation that is Latinized from χ Centauri, and abbreviated Chi Cen or χ Cen. This star is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude that varies around +4.35. Based on parallax measurements, it is located at a distance of approximately 500 light years from the Earth. The star is drifting further away with a line of sight velocity component of +12 km/s. for Chi Centauri, plotted from TESS data. χ Centauri has a stellar classification of B2 V, presenting as a young B-type main-sequence star. It is classified as a Beta Cephei type variable star and its brightness varies by 0.02 magnitudes with a period of 50.40 minutes. At the age of around 12 million years, it has 7.1 times the mass of the Sun and 3.5 times the Sun's radius. This star is radiating 2,090 times the luminosity of the Sun from its photosphere at an effective temperature of 20,800 K. This star is a proper motion member of the Upper Centaurus–Lupus sub-group in the Scorpius–Centaurus OB association, the nearest such co-moving association of massive stars to the Sun.
Article summary
Chi Centauri is a blue-white star in the southern constellation of Centaurus. Its name is a Bayer designation that is Latinized from χ Centauri, and abbreviated Chi Cen or χ Cen. This star is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude that varies around +4.35. Based on parallax measurements, it is located at a distance of approximately 500 light years from the Earth. The star is drifting further away with a line of sight velocity component of +12 km/s. for Chi Centauri, plotted from TESS data. χ Centauri has a stellar classification of B2 V, presenting as a young B-type main-sequence star. It is classified as a Beta Cephei type variable star and its brightness varies by 0.02 magnitudes with a period of 50.40 minutes. At the age of around 12 million years, it has 7.1 times the mass of the Sun and 3.5 times the Sun's radius. This star is radiating 2,090 times the luminosity of the Sun from its photosphere at an effective temperature of 20,800 K. This star is a proper motion member of the Upper Centaurus–Lupus sub-group in the Scorpius–Centaurus OB association, the nearest such co-moving association of massive stars to the Sun.
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.