Jabbah / Nu Scorpii Star Facts (Type, Distance, Magnitude, Age, Colour, Location and more)
Facts
Information on Jabbah
Jabbah is one of the biggest multiple star system that we have so far discovered. It is a double binary star system because the stars are pairs rather than all around the same system. There is a quintuple-star system consisting of about two groups of stars, but it is now thought it might be a septuple (7) star system. The only other star system that is known to have the same number of stars as this is AR Cassiopeiae. You might notice that only a few of its stars are mentioned here.
There is a similar sounding star in the constellation of Leo in case this was not the star that you were looking for. The name of the other star is Al Jabhah, also known as Eta Leonis. In addition to their being a similar sounding name, the star Jabbah is identical to the gangster in Star Wars, and his name is Jabba, the Hutt. Jabba, the Hutt is the slug who had Han Solo frozen in carbonite before being rescued by Princess Leia. The name for this star comes from the Arabic 'The Forehead"
The picture below is of Jabbah in amongst a gas cloud with its siblings. All the stars in the system are all larger than our Sun. The picture was taken by N.A.S.A. .


Jabbah, also known as Nu Scorpii (Bayer) is a subgiant star located in the constellation of Scorpius, The Scorpion. It is not part of the Scorpius constellation outline but is within the borders of the constellation.
Based on the spectral type (B2IV), Jabbah colour is blue, which means that the star is one of the hottest stars in the Universe, hotter than our star.


Jabbah temperature is in the range of 10,000 to 30,000 Kelvin. Based on the spectral type (B2IV) as we don't have the exact temperature', we can deduce that the surface temperature of Jabbah is in the order of 10,000 and 25,000K based on the notes from Harvard University. To put this in context, the temperature of our Sun is about 5,778 Kelvin as said by Google.
Based on a parallax of 6.88, Jabbah distance from Earth can be calculated at being 474.07 light years away or 133.87 parsecs.
Jabbah 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.
Location
The location of the Jabbah 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 Jabbah, the location is 16h 11m 59.74 and -19° 27` 38.3 .
Based on the location of Scorpius, Jabbah can be located in the southern hemisphere of the celestial sky. The celestial hemisphere is equivalent to the hemispheres on Earth. Jabbah is on 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.
Physical Properties
Spectral Type
Jabbah spectral type of B2IV which means its colour and type is blue subgiant star. 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.
Jabbah 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. Jabbah luminosity figure of 450.61 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.
Iron Abundance
Jabbah Iron Abundance is -0.02 with an error value of 0.04 Fe/H, with the Sun having a value of 1 to put it into context. The value comes from the Hipparcos Extended Catalog.
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.
Jabbah apparent magnitude is 4, 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, Jabbah' absolute magnitude is -1.63. If you use the 2007 parallax value, Jabbah' absolute magnitude is -1.81. 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.
Jabbah 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.
Radial Velocity and Proper Motion
In simplistic terms, all non-rogue stars, like planets, orbit around a central object, although that is actually not true. Where is the centre of the Solar System. For simplicity it's the central star, such as the Sun. In the case of a star, it's the galactic centre. The constellations we see today will be different than they were 50,000 years ago or 50,000 years from now.
Proper motion details the movements of these stars and is measured in milliarcseconds. Jabbah is moving -23.71 ± 0.46 milliarcseconds/year towards the north and -7.65 ± 0.76 milliarcseconds/year east if we saw them in the horizon.
The radial velocity, the speed at which the Jabbah is moving away from the Sun, is 4.10000 km/s with an error of about 10.00 km/s . When the value is negative, the star and the Sun are getting closer to one another; likewise, a positive number means that two stars are moving away. It's nothing to fear as the stars are so far apart they won't collide in our lifetime, if ever.
Jabbah Fact Table
The table is scrollable if you can't see everything, just swipe the table to see the hidden information.
| Primary Name | Jabbah |
|---|---|
| Spectral Type | B2IV |
| Star Type | Double or Multiple Star |
| Colour | blue |
| Galaxy | Milky Way |
| Constellation | Scorpius |
| Main Star | No |
| Absolute Magnitude | -1.63 / -1.81 |
| Visual / Apparent Magnitude | 4 |
| Visible From Earth | Yes |
| Right Ascension (R.A.) | 16h 11m 59.74 |
| Declination (Dec.) | -19° 27` 38.3 |
| Galactic Latitude | 22.70023473 ° |
| Galactic Longitude | 354.60874804 ° |
| 1997 Distance from Earth | 7.47000 Parallax (milliarcseconds) |
| 436.63 Light Years | |
| 133.87 Parsecs | |
| 2007 Distance from Earth | 6.88000 Parallax (milliarcseconds) |
| 474.07 Light Years | |
| 145.35 Parsecs | |
| 29,980,380.682 Astronomical Units | |
| Galacto-Centric Distance | 23,708.813 Light Years / 7,269 Parsecs |
| Proper Motion Dec. | -23.71000 ± 0.46000 milliarcseconds/year |
| Proper Motion RA. | -7.65000 ± 0.76000 milliarcseconds/year |
| B-V Index | 0.07 |
| Radial Velocity | 4.10000 ± 10 km/s |
| Iron Abundance (Fe/H) | -0.0200 ± 0.04 |
| Eccentricity | 0.09420 |
| Semi-Major Axis | 7079.0000000 |
| Luminosity (Lsun) | 450.6100000 |
Sources and Links
| Modified Date | 13th July 2024 |
| Published Date | Jan 2015 |
| SIMBAD Source | Link |
| EPIC Source | Epic Search |
Scorpius's Main Stars in Brightness Order
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