Beta Columbae

Beta Columbae (β Columbae, β Col) is the second brightest star in the southern constellation of Columba. It has the traditional name Wezn (or Wazn), from the Arabic وزن "weight". It has an apparent visual magnitude of 3.1, which is bright enough to be viewed with the naked eye even from an urban location. Parallax measurements place it at a distance of about 87.2 light-years (26.7 parsecs) from Earth.

In Chinese, 子 (Zǐ), meaning Son, refers to an asterism consisting of β Columbae and λ Columbae. Consequently, β Columbae itself is known as 子二 (Zǐ èr, English: the Second Star of Son.)

Properties

The spectrum of Beta Columbae matches a stellar classification of K1 IIICN+1, where the 'III' luminosity class indicates this is a giant star that has exhausted the supply of hydrogen at its core and evolved away from the main sequence of stars like the Sun. The notation 'CN+1' indicates a higher than normal level of cyanogen (CN) absorption in the atmosphere of the star. The interferometry-measured angular diameter of this star, after correcting for limb darkening, is 3.99 ± 0.05 mas, which, at its estimated distance, equates to a physical radius of about 11.5 times the radius of the Sun. Despite having expanded to this radius, Beta Columbae only has about a 10% greater mass than the Sun. The outer envelope of this star is radiating energy at an effective temperature of 4,545 K, resulting an orange hue that is typical of a cool, K-type star.

WEZN-FM

WEZN-FM (99.9 FM, "Star 99.9") is a radio station broadcasting an hot adult contemporary format, Located on 99.9 FM, the station is licensed to the Bridgeport, Connecticut community. The stations slogan is: "Today's Best Mix!" The station is owned by Connoisseur Media and it has a strong signal which reaches into most of Westchester County, New York and well north of Hartford, Connecticut as well as central Suffolk County, New York on Long Island. Its studios are in Milford and the transmitter site is in Trumbull.

History and programming

WEZN was the first station to be assigned the WJZZ call sign in 1964 followed by 105.9 FM in Detroit, Michigan (now WDMK) and 107.5 FM in Atlanta, Georgia (now WAMJ).

The station was purchased from Cox Radio by Connoisseur Media along with sister stations WFOX and WPLR, at a purchase price of $40 million. Connoisseur Media took ownership on May 10, 2013.

Radio hosts have included Randye Kaye.

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