Variable star in the Camelopardalis constellation
BE Camelopardalis , also namedCustos ,[ 10] [ 11] variable star in the northerncircumpolar constellation ofCamelopardalis . It is visible to thenaked eye as a faint, red-hued point of light with anapparent visual magnitude that fluctuates around 4.39.[ 2] light years away.[ 6]
Alight curve for BE Camelopardalis, plotted from Hipparcos data[ 12] This object is anM-type bright giant with astellar classification of M2 II,[ 5] asymptotic giant branch . In 1928,Joel Stebbins andCharles Morse Huffer announced that the star, then called HR 1155, is a variable star, based on observations made atWashburn Observatory .[ 13] variable star designation , BE Camelopardalis, in 1977.[ 14] irregular variable of subtype Lc and its brightness varies from magnitude +4.35 down to +4.48.[ 3] core , the star has expanded to around 250[ 8] Sun's radius . It has 2.9[ 7] Sun's mass and is radiating over 10,000 times theluminosity of the Sun from its enlargedphotosphere at aneffective temperature of 3,660 K.[ 8]
This star was part of the now-obsolete constellationCustos Messium , the Harvest Keeper, which was named as a pun onCharles Messier . TheIAU Working Group on Star Names approved the name Custos for this star on 25 December 2025, after the obsolete constellation, and it is now so entered in the IAU Catalog of Star Names.[ 10] 50 Cassiopeiae ,[ 15] Gang after a Chinese constellation.[ 10]
^a b c d Vallenari, A.; et al. (Gaia collaboration) (2023)."Gaia Data Release 3. Summary of the content and survey properties" .Astronomy and Astrophysics .674 : A1.arXiv :2208.00211 Bibcode :2023A&A...674A...1G .doi :10.1051/0004-6361/202243940 S2CID 244398875 . Gaia DR3 record for this source atVizieR .^a b c d e Anderson, E.; Francis, Ch. (2012). "XHIP: An extended hipparcos compilation".Astronomy Letters .38 (5): 331.arXiv :1108.4971 Bibcode :2012AstL...38..331A .doi :10.1134/S1063773712050015 .S2CID 119257644 . ^a b c Samus, N. N.; et al. (2017). "General Catalogue of Variable Stars".Astronomy Reports . 5.1.61 (1):80– 88.Bibcode :2017ARep...61...80S .doi :10.1134/S1063772917010085 .S2CID 125853869 . ^ Eggen, Olin J. (July 1992). "Asymptotic giant branch stars near the sun".Astronomical Journal .104 (1):275– 313.Bibcode :1992AJ....104..275E .doi :10.1086/116239 . ^a b Levesque, Emily M. ; et al. (August 2005). "The Effective Temperature Scale of Galactic Red Supergiants: Cool, but Not As Cool As We Thought".The Astrophysical Journal .628 (2):973– 985.arXiv :astro-ph/0504337 Bibcode :2005ApJ...628..973L .doi :10.1086/430901 .S2CID 15109583 .^a b Bailer-Jones, C. A. L.; Rybizki, J.; Fouesneau, M.; Demleitner, M.; Andrae, R. (2021-03-01)."Estimating distances from parallaxes. V: Geometric and photogeometric distances to 1.47 billion stars in Gaia Early Data Release 3" .The Astronomical Journal .161 (3): 147.arXiv :2012.05220 Bibcode :2021AJ....161..147B .doi :10.3847/1538-3881/abd806 ISSN 0004-6256 . here .^a b Hohle, M. M.; et al. (2010). "Masses and luminosities of O- and B-type stars and red supergiants".Astronomische Nachrichten .331 (4): 349.arXiv :1003.2335 Bibcode :2010AN....331..349H .doi :10.1002/asna.200911355 .S2CID 111387483 . ^a b c d e Healy, Sarah; Horiuchi, Shunsaku; Molla, Marta Colomer; Milisavljevic, Dan; Tseng, Jeff; Bergin, Faith; Weil, Kathryn; Tanaka, Masaomi (2024-03-23)."Red Supergiant Candidates for Multimessenger Monitoring of the Next Galactic Supernova" .Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society .529 (4):3630– 3650.arXiv :2307.08785 Bibcode :2024MNRAS.529.3630H .doi :10.1093/mnras/stae738 ISSN 0035-8711 . ^ "BE Cam" .SIMBAD Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg . Retrieved2019-08-12 .^a b c "IAU Catalog of Star Names" . Retrieved28 December 2025 .^ Eggleton, P. P.; Tokovinin, A. A. (September 2008)."A catalogue of multiplicity among bright stellar systems" .Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 389 (2):869– 879.arXiv :0806.2878 Bibcode :2008MNRAS.389..869E .doi :10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.13596.x S2CID 14878976 . ^ "Hipparcos Tools Interactive Data Access" .Hipparcos . ESA. Retrieved8 December 2021 .^ Stebbins, Joel; Huffer, C. M. (1928)."The Constancy of the Light of Red Stars" .Publications of the Washburn Observatory .15 :137– 174.Bibcode :1928PWasO..15..137S . Retrieved5 December 2024 . ^ Kukarkin, B. V.; Kholopov, P. N.; Fedorovich, V. P.; Kireyeva, N. N.; Kukarkina, N. P.; Medvedeva, G. I.; Perova, N. B. (March 1977)."62nd Name-List of Variable Stars" (PDF) .Information Bulletin on Variable Stars .1248 : 1.Bibcode :1977IBVS.1248....1K . Retrieved29 December 2024 . ^ Ridpath, Ian ."Star Tales – Custos Messium" . Retrieved28 December 2025 .
