Beta Capricorni
Beta Capricorni (β Cap, β Capricorni) is a star system in the constellation Capricornus. It has the traditional name Dabih, which comes from the Arabic الذابح al-dhābiḥ, meaning "the butcher". The β Capricorni system is located 328 light years from Earth. Because it is near the ecliptic, β Capricorni can be occulted by the Moon, and also (rarely) by planets.
In Chinese, 牛宿 (Niú Su), meaning Ox (asterism), refers to an asterism consisting of β Capricorni, α2 Capricorni, ξ2 Capricorni, π Capricorni, ο Capricorni and ρ Capricorni. Consequently, β Capricorni itself is known as 牛宿一 (Niú Su yī, English: the First Star of Ox.)
Visual double
With binoculars or a small telescope, β Capricorni can be resolved into a double star. The brighter of these two components, β¹ Capricorni or Dabih Major, has an apparent magnitude of +3.05, while the dimmer one, β² Capricorni or Dabih Minor, has an apparent magnitude of +6.09. The two components are separated by 3.5 arcminutes on the sky, putting them at least 21,000 AU (0.34 light years) apart. They take approximately 700,000 years to complete one orbit. Both of these components are themselves made up of multiple stars.
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