Mirfak (also known as Algenib, and designated α Persei) is the brightest star in the constellation of Perseus. It is a yellow supergiant star, about 5,000 times as luminous as the sun, and lying at a distance of about 580 light years.
In the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram, Mirfak lies very close to the region in which Cepheid variables are found. It is thus useful in the study of these stars, which are extremely important standard candles.
Mirfak is a very bright star with an intrinsic luminosity, or total light output, that rates an absolute magnitude of -5.1 (bright stars have low or even negative magnitude values).
Mirfak’s surface temperature is 6200° C (11,000°F), which is about 10 percent greater than the surface temperature of the sun and gives the star a yellow-white color.
From its composition, temperature, and size, astronomers classify Mirfak as a supergiant star—an older star that has used up the hydrogen fuel in its core and is now burning hydrogen in its outer shell and helium in its core.
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