Alphecca

noun

Al·​phec·​ca al-ˈfe-kə 

astronomy

: a white binary star of the second magnitude that is the brightest star in the constellation Corona Borealis

The brightest star in Corona Borealis is Alphecca, a hot bluish-white star about 75 light-years away—about 435 trillion miles. The light we see from Alphecca tonight left that star in 1936, when FDR was president.

—Mike Lynch, St. Paul (Minnesota) Pioneer Press, 4 June 2011

called also Alpha Coronae Borealis

Word History

First Known Use

1812, in the meaning defined above

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