Regor / Gamma Velorum Star Facts (Type, Distance, Magnitude, Age, Mass, Colour, Location and more)

Regor, also known as Gamma Velorum (Bayer) is a very luminous supergiant starwolf-rayet star located in the constellation of Vela, The Sails. Regor is a major star and forms part of the constellation.

Regor is the 1st brightest star in Vela based on the Hipparcos 2007 apparent magnitude. Based on a parallax of 2.92, Regor distance from Earth can be calculated at being 1,117.00 light years away or 257.73 parsecs.

Regor is a naked-eye star, so you don't need a telescope or binoculars when you look up on a clear night. The lower the magnitude, the easier it will be to see it.

Regor is an eruptive wolf-rayet variable star. Variable stars are stars whose size and/or brightness changes over time. Regor brightness ranges from 1.724 (dimmest) to 1.68 over a period of 0.034 days.

Location

The location of the Regor in the night sky is determined by the right ascension (R.A.) and declination (Dec.). These are equivalent to the Longitude and Latitude on Earth. The Right Ascension (Longitude) is expressed in time (hh:mm:ss) and is how far the star is along Earth's celestial equator. If the R.A. is positive, then it's eastwards and vice versa.

The Declination (Latitude) is how far north or south the object is compared to the celestial equator and is expressed in degrees. If the value is positive, it is north of the celestial equator. For Regor, the location is 08h 09m 31.96 and -47° 20` 11.8 .

Based on the location of Vela, Regor can be located in the southern hemisphere of the celestial sky. The celestial hemisphere is equivalent to the hemispheres on Earth. Regor is south of the Ecliptic. The Ecliptic is the path that the Earth takes as it orbits the Sun. As the Earth is titled, we therefore have Celestial and Ecliptic hemispheres and they can be different for a star.

Wolf-Rayet Star

Regor is a Wolf-Rayet, a rare type of star of which not many are known. These stars are extremely luminous and large compared to our Sun. They live fast and die hard in a matter of millions not billions of years like our Sun. They exhaust their hydrogen supplies, turning to other gasses and expand outwards with massive solar winds, moving a step closer in the stellar evolution towards their death in a super or hypernova explosion.

Physical Properties

Spectral Type

Regor spectral type of WC8 + O9I There is no relationship between colour and size. For example, a red star can be large or small. Small stars are more energy efficient than larger stars and live longer.

Regor Luminosity

Luminosity is the amount of energy a star pumps out relative to the amount that our star, the Sun, gives out. Our star, the Sun's value is 1. Regor luminosity figure of 64,399.63 is based on the value in the Simbad Hipparcos Extended Catalogue at the University of Strasbourg from 2012. The star generates more energy than our star.

Regor Size (Radius)

Regor radius has been calculated as being 17 times bigger than the Sun. The Sun's radius is 695,800km, therefore, the Regor radius is an estimated 11,828,600.km. If you need the star's diameter, you just need to multiply the radius by 2. The error range for the radius is between 2.00000 and 2.00000.

Magnitude (Apparent / Absolute / Visible)

A number represents a star’s magnitude, whether apparent/visual or absolute. The smaller the number, the brighter the star is. The Sun is the brightest star and therefore has the lowest of all magnitudes, -26.74. A faint star will have a high number.

Regor apparent magnitude is 1.75, which is a measure of the star's brightness as seen from Earth. Apparent Magnitude is also known as Visual Magnitude.

If you use the 1997 parallax value, Regor' absolute magnitude is -5.31. If you use the 2007 parallax value, Regor' absolute magnitude is -5.92. Absolute Magnitude is the star's apparent magnitude from 10 parsecs or 32.6 light years. The magnitude assumes nothing is between the object and the viewer, such as dust clouds. To compare different stars' actual brightness, you would best use Absolute rather than Apparent Magnitude.

Regor is visible from Earth without needing binoculars or a telescope. The lower the Apparent Magnitude of a star or other object is, the easier it is to see in the night sky. An object with a magnitude greater than 6.5 cannot be seen without a telescope or other device.