Batentaban Borealis

A star in the northern reaches of the constellation Draco, the Dragon, lying on the long looping string of stars that makes up the Dragon's body as it passes relatively close to the Northern Celestial Pole. The name Batentaban comes from the Arabic for 'belly of the serpent', and this star is one of two that represent the Dragon's belly. The other, Batentaban Australis or Phi Draconis, lies close by to the south of Batentaban Borealis.

Batentaban Borealis lies relatively close to the Solar System, at a distance of just twenty-six light years. This is a binary system, with the primary star being a bright yellow dwarf similar in many ways to the Sun (it is only slightly larger and more massive, and generates about twice as much light energy). In orbit around this star at a distance of about one Astronomical Unit (that is, roughly the distance from the Sun to the Earth) is a fainter companion. This 'B' component is an orange, K-type star, much smaller and less luminous than the primary. The two pursue a mutual orbit that takes some 280 days to complete.

* Minbar is not a traditional star name, but comes from the TV series Babylon 5, which posited this star as the home of the Minbari species. From there, Minbar has found its way into various sources as an alternative name for the Batentaban Borealis system. In reality, the close orbit of the two stellar components in this binary system means that the development of any kind of life here is extraordinarily unlikely.