Delta Aurigae
Delta Aurigae is the Bayer designation for an astrometric binary star in the constellation Auriga. It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 3.715. Based upon its annual parallax shift of 25.88 mas, it is some distant from the Earth, give or take an eight light-year margin of error. This star is the namesake for the Delta Aurigids, a meteor shower that occurs between October 6–15. The radiant point for this shower passes several degrees to the south of the star.
Delta Aurigae is a spectroscopic binary: periodic Doppler shifts in the star's spectrum indicate orbital motion. The visible component of this system is a giant star with a stellar classification of K0 III. It has 11 times the radius of the Sun and shines with 62 times the Sun's luminosity. This energy is being radiated from the star's outer envelope at an effective temperature of 4,786 K. This heat gives the star the orange-hued glow of a K-type star. Delta Aurigae has an orbital period of and an eccentricity of 0.231.Name
In Indian astronomy, it is known by the name Prajapati, from the Sanskrit प्रजापति prajāpati "the Lord of Created Beings".
In Chinese, 八穀, meaning Eight Kinds of Crops, refers to an asterism consisting of δ Aurigae, ξ Aurigae, 26 Camelopardalis, 14 Camelopardalis, 7 Camelopardalis, 9 Aurigae, 11 Camelopardalis and 31 Camelopardalis. Consequently, the Chinese name for δ Aurigae itself is 八穀一, refers to the rice.
