What is Lambda Velorum?
'''Lambda Velorum''' designated, '''λ Velorum''', officially named '''Suhail''',<ref>{{Cite web|title=Department of Physics and Astronomy|url=https://www.sas.rochester.edu/pas|access-date=2022-11-15|website=www.sas.rochester.edu|language=en-US}}</ref> is a star in the southern constellation of [[Vela (constellation)|Vela]]. With a mean [[Apparent magnitude|apparent visual magnitude]] of 2.21,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Johnson|first1=H. L.|last2=Mitchell|first2=R. I.|last3=Iriarte|first3=B.|last4=Wisniewski|first4=W. Z.|date=1966-01-01|title=UBVRIJKL Photometry of the Bright Stars|url=https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1966CoLPL...4...99J|journal=Communications of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory|volume=4|pages=99–110|bibcode=1966CoLPL...4...99J }}</ref> this is the third-brightest star in the constellation of Vela and one of the brighter stars in the sky. The distance to this star can be measured directly using the [[parallax]] technique, yielding an estimated 545 [[Light year|light years]] from the Sun.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=van Leeuwen|first=F.|date=2007|title=Validation of the new Hipparcos reduction|journal=Astronomy & Astrophysics|volume=474|issue=2|pages=653–664|doi=10.1051/0004-6361:20078357|arxiv=0708.1752 |bibcode=2007A&A...474..653V |s2cid=18759600 |issn=0004-6361}}</ref> [[File:Vela_constellation_map.svg|thumb|Suhail at the top, bit left and near the middle, the star is the dot labelled 'λ' on the map.]]The outer envelope of Suhail has an [[effective temperature]] of about 4,000 [[Kelvin|K]], giving it the cool orange hue of a [[Stellar classification|K-type star]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2012-02-22|title=Colour of Stars|url=http://outreach.atnf.csiro.au/education/senior/astrophysics/photometry_colour.html|access-date=2022-11-15|archive-date=2013-12-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203222826/http://outreach.atnf.csiro.au/education/senior/astrophysics/photometry_colour.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> It is an Lc-type, [[Slow irregular variable|slow irregular]] [[variable star]] with its brigh