Alpha Lyncis
Star in the constellation Lynx
title: "Alpha Lyncis" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["bayer-objects", "lynx-(constellation)", "k-type-giants", "flamsteed-objects", "hipparcos-objects", "henry-draper-catalogue-objects", "durchmusterung-objects", "bright-star-catalogue-objects", "suspected-variables", "lucidae"] description: "Star in the constellation Lynx" topic_path: "general/bayer-objects" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_Lyncis" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Star in the constellation Lynx ::
| name=α Lyncis | image= |image=Lynx constellation map.svg|alt=|float=center|width=240 |label=|position=right |mark=Red circle.svg|mark_width=10|mark_link=α Lyn |x=102|y=810 |caption=Location of α Lyncis (circled) | epoch = J2000 | ra = | dec = | appmag_v = +3.14 | constell = Lynx | type = Giant star | class = K7 III | b-v = +1.55 | u-b = +1.95 | variable = | radial_v = 37.15 | prop_mo_ra = | prop_mo_dec = | pm_footnote = | parallax = 14.7 | p_error = 0.18 | parallax_footnote = | dist_pc = | dist_ly = | dist_footnote = | absmag_bol = –2.32 ± 0.13 | mass = | radius = | luminosity = | gravity = | temperature = | metal_fe = | rotational_velocity = 6.4 | age_gyr = 1.4 | names = 40 Lyncis, HR 3705, HD 80493, BD+35°1979, HIP 45860, SAO 61414, FK5 352, NSV 4456, GC 12880 |Simbad=alf+Lyn
Alpha Lyncis (α Lyn, α Lyncis) is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Lynx with an apparent magnitude of +3.13. Unusually, it is the only star in the constellation that has a Bayer designation. Based upon parallax measurements, this star is located about 220 ly from the Earth.
Characteristics
This is a red giant star that has exhausted the hydrogen at its core and has evolved away from the main sequence. It has expanded to about 58 times the Sun's radius and it is emitting roughly 621 times the luminosity of the Sun. The estimated effective temperature of the star's outer envelope is 3,881 K, which is lower than the Sun's effective temperature of 5,778 K, and is giving Alpha Lyncis a red-orange hue that is characteristic of late K-type stars.
Alpha Lyncis is a suspected small-amplitude red variable star that changes apparent magnitude from +3.17 up to +3.12. This variability pattern typically occurs in stars that have developed an inert carbon core surrounded by a helium-fusing shell, and suggests that Alpha Lyncis is starting to evolve into a Mira variable.
References
References
- (2002). "VizieR Online Data Catalog: Catalogue of Stellar Photometry in Johnson's 11-color system". CDS/ADC Collection of Electronic Catalogues.
- "Alpha Lyncis".
- {{Cite DR3. 702343774145932544
- (2024-02-01). "Gaia FGK benchmark stars: Fundamental Teff and log g of the third version". Astronomy and Astrophysics.
- (October 2021). "Angular Diameters and Fundamental Parameters of Forty-four Stars from the Navy Precision Optical Interferometer". The Astronomical Journal.
- (2021). "Estimating Distances from Parallaxes. V. Geometric and Photogeometric Distances to 1.47 Billion Stars in Gaia Early Data Release 3". The Astronomical Journal.
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