Beta Lacertae


Beta Lacertae is the fourth-brightest star in the constellation of Lacerta. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 19.19 mas, it is 170 light years distant from Earth. At that distance, the visual magnitude is diminished by an extinction factor of 0.17 due to interstellar dust.
This is an evolved G-type giant with an apparent visual magnitude of approximately 4.43. It is a red clump star and the primary component of a suspected binary system, with the pair having an angular separation of 0.2 arc seconds.

Naming

In Chinese, 螣蛇, meaning Flying Serpent, refers to an asterism consisting of β Lacertae, α Lacertae, 4 Lacertae, π2 Cygni, π1 Cygni, HD 206267, ε Cephei, σ Cassiopeiae, ρ Cassiopeiae, τ Cassiopeiae, AR Cassiopeiae, 9 Lacertae, 3 Andromedae, 7 Andromedae, 8 Andromedae, λ Andromedae, κ Andromedae, ι Andromedae, and ψ Andromedae. Consequently, the Chinese name for β Lacertae itself is 螣蛇十