An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

A → yellow hypergiant in the constellation Cassiopeia, classified as F8-G2 Ia0pe. Rho Cas is about 11,650 light-years away from Earth, yet can still be seen by the naked eye, as it is 550,000 times as luminous as the Sun. It is in fact
one of the most luminous stars in our Galaxy. ρ Cas is also one of the only seven currently known yellow hypergiants in the Milky Way. It is variable and fluctuates around magnitude 5 but dimmed to 6th magnitude on 1946. Its last eruption happened in 2000-2001, during which the star ejected about 10 percent of a solar mass, dimmed by more than a full magnitude, and changed its spectral type from late F to early M. During this outburst, the star surface cooled from 7,000 to 4,000 K.

See also: Rho, a Gk. letter of alphabet used in → Bayer designation; Cassiopeiae, genitive of → Cassiopeia.