BE Camelopardalis

BE Camelopardalis is a solitary^[11] variable star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Camelopardalis. It is visible to the naked eye as a faint, red-hued point of light with an apparent visual magnitude that fluctuates around 4.39.^[3] The star is located roughly 960 light years away.^[7]

BE Camelopardalis

A light curve for BE Camelopardalis, plotted from Hipparcos data[1]
Observation data Epoch J2000      Equinox J2000
Constellation	Camelopardalis
Right ascension	03h 49m 31.27755s[2]
Declination	+65° 31′ 33.5258″[2]
Apparent magnitude (V)	4.39[3] (4.35 - 4.48)[4]
Characteristics
Evolutionary stage	asymptotic giant branch[5]
Spectral type	M2 II[6]
B−V color index	1.870±0.029[3]
Variable type	Lc[4]
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)	−1.70±1.47[3] km/s
Proper motion (μ)	RA: +0.319 mas/yr[2] Dec.: −15.593 mas/yr[2]
Parallax (π)	3.3288±0.1874 mas[2]
Distance	958+53 −51 ly (293.7+16.4 −15.5 pc)[7]
Absolute magnitude (MV)	−2.51[3]
Details
Mass	2.93[8] M☉
Radius	250[9] R☉
Luminosity	10,600[9] L☉
Temperature	3,660[9] K
Other designations
BE Cam, BD+65°369, HD 23475, HIP 17884, HR 1155, SAO 12916[10]
Database references
SIMBAD	data

This object is an M-type bright giant with a stellar classification of M2 II,^[6] and is currently on the asymptotic giant branch. In 1928, Joel Stebbins and Charles Morse Huffer announced that the star, then called HR 1155, is a variable star, based on observations made at Washburn Observatory.^[12] It was given its variable star designation, BE Camelopardalis, in 1977.^[13] It is classified as an irregular variable of subtype Lc and its brightness varies from magnitude +4.35 down to +4.48.^[4] Having exhausted the supply of hydrogen at its core, the star has expanded to around 250^[9] times the Sun's radius. It has 2.9^[8] times the Sun's mass and is radiating over 10,000 times the luminosity of the Sun from its enlarged photosphere at an effective temperature of 3,660 K.^[9]