
Cor Caroli (Alpha Canum Venaticorum) is the brightest
star in the northern constellation Canes Venatici. Cor Caroli marks the
northern vertex of the Diamond of Virgo asterism. It is a binary star
with a combined apparent magnitude of 2.81, approximately 110 light
years from Earth.
The stars in this binary have a strong magnetic field,
which is believed to produce starspots of enormous extent. Due to these
starspots the brightness of the stars vary considerably during their
rotation, varying between magnitude +2.84 and +2.98 with a period of
5.47 days.
In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode
"Allegiance", Cor Caroli was visited by the USS Enterprise-D and was
the location of an outbreak of Phyrox plague.
The name Cor Caroli means Charles' heart, and was named
by Sir Charles Scarborough in honour of Charles I who was executed in
the aftermath of the English Civil War.
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