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Arcturus

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
Arcturus (ärktr`əs), brightest star in the constellation Boötes Boötes (bō-ō`tēz) [Gr.
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 and 4th-brightest star in the entire sky; Bayer designation Alpha Boötis; 1992 position R.A. 14h15.3m, Dec. +19°13'. An orange giant of spectral class spectral class, in astronomy, a classification of the stars by their spectrum and luminosity . In 1885, E. C. Pickering began the first extensive attempt to classify the stars spectroscopically.
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 K2 III, it has an apparent magnitude magnitude, in astronomy, measure of the brightness of a star or other celestial object. The stars cataloged by Ptolemy (2d cent. A.D.), all visible with the unaided eye, were ranked on a brightness scale such that the brightest stars were of 1st magnitude and the
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 of −0.06; its diameter is about 10 times that of the sun and its luminosity about 100 times that of the sun. Arcturus is one of the nearest giant stars, at a distance of about 36 light-years, and has one of the largest proper motions proper motion, in astronomy, apparent movement of a star on the celestial sphere , usually measured as seconds of arc per year; it is due both to the actual relative motions of the sun and the star through space. Proper motion reflects only transverse motion, i.e.
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 (annual angular shift in position) of the bright stars. Its name is from the Greek meaning "guardian of the bear," and it can be found by following the extension of the curve of the handle of the Big Dipper (Large Bear).
Arcturus [‚ärk′tu̇r·əs]
(astronomy)
A star that is 36 light-years from the sun; spectral classification K2IIIp. Also known as α Boötes.


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Venus, bright and silvery, shone with her soft light low down in the west behind the birch trees, and high up in the east twinkled the red lights of Arcturus.
564-570) When Zeus has finished sixty wintry days after the solstice, then the star Arcturus (25) leaves the holy stream of Ocean and first rises brilliant at dusk.
And yet what is that compared with the distance of the fixed stars, some of which, such as Arcturus, are billions of miles distant from us?
 
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