BP Crucis
BP Crucis (x-ray source GX 301-2) is an X-ray binary system containing a blue hypergiant and a pulsar. System BP Crucis is considered as the optical counterpart to the X-ray source GX 301-2. The system consists of a massive hypergiant star and a neutron star in an eccentric 41.5 day orbit. The distance is likely to be between three and four thousand parsecs. It is heavily reddened and has a K-band infrared magnitude of 5.72. There is a mass transfer from the hypergiant to the pulsar which occurs via a dense accretion disc. This produces a cyclotron effect with electron energies of 37 and 48 keV. Variability The system shows both optical and x-ray variability. Although no eclipses are observed, the x-ray luminosity varies during the orbit with large x-ray flares being observed during periastron passages. The system is an optical variable showing brightness changes of up to 0.08 magnitudes at visible wavelengths. These have been attributed to ellipsoidal variatio ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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J2000
In astronomy, an epoch or reference epoch is a instant, moment in time used as a reference point for some time-varying astronomical quantity. It is useful for the celestial coordinates or orbital elements of a Astronomical object, celestial body, as they are subject to Perturbation (astronomy), perturbations and vary with time. These time-varying astronomical quantities might include, for example, the mean longitude or mean anomaly of a body, the node of its orbit relative to a reference plane, the direction of the apogee or Perihelion and aphelion, aphelion of its orbit, or the size of the major axis of its orbit. The main use of astronomical quantities specified in this way is to calculate other relevant parameters of motion, in order to predict future positions and velocities. The applied tools of the disciplines of celestial mechanics or its subfield orbital mechanics (for predicting orbital paths and positions for bodies in motion under the gravitational effects of other bodi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Infrared
Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around 1 millimeter (300 GHz) to the nominal red edge of the visible spectrum, around 700 nanometers (430 THz). Longer IR wavelengths (30 μm-100 μm) are sometimes included as part of the terahertz radiation range. Almost all black-body radiation from objects near room temperature is at infrared wavelengths. As a form of electromagnetic radiation, IR propagates energy and momentum, exerts radiation pressure, and has properties corresponding to both those of a wave and of a particle, the photon. It was long known that fires emit invisible heat; in 1681 the pioneering experimenter Edme Mariotte showed that glass, though transparent to sunlight, obstructed radiant heat. In 1800 the astronomer Sir William Herschel discovered ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rotating Ellipsoidal Variables
Rotating ellipsoidal variables are a class of variable star. They are close binary systems whose components are ellipsoidal. They are not eclipsing, but fluctuations in apparent magnitude occur due to changes in the amount of light emitting area visible to the observer. Typical brightness fluctuations do not exceed 0.1 magnitudes. The brightest rotating ellipsoidal variable is Spica Spica is the brightest object in the constellation of Virgo and one of the 20 brightest stars in the night sky. It has the Bayer designation α Virginis, which is Latinised to Alpha Virginis and abbreviated Alpha Vir or α Vir. Analys ... (α Virginis). References * Morris, S.L. "The Ellipsoidal Variable Stars", ApJ 295: 143–152, 1985 August 1 * Samus N.N., Durlevich O.V., et al. ''Combined General Catalog of Variable Stars (GCVS4.2, 2004 Ed.)'' * Variable stars * {{var-star-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2MASS Objects
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementary particles, theoretically with the same amount of matter, have nonetheless different masses. Mass in modern physics has multiple definitions which are conceptually distinct, but physically equivalent. Mass can be experimentally defined as a measure of the body's inertia, meaning the resistance to acceleration (change of velocity) when a net force is applied. The object's mass also determines the strength of its gravitational attraction to other bodies. The SI base unit of mass is the kilogram (kg). In physics, mass is not the same as weight, even though mass is often determined by measuring the object's weight using a spring scale, rather than balance scale comparing it directly with known masses. An object on the Moon would weigh less t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Objects With Variable Star Designations
Object may refer to: General meanings * Object (philosophy), a thing, being, or concept ** Object (abstract), an object which does not exist at any particular time or place ** Physical object, an identifiable collection of matter * Goal, an aim, target, or objective * Object (grammar), a sentence element, such as a direct object or an indirect object Science, technology, and mathematics Computing * 3D model, a representation of a physical object * Object (computer science), a language mechanism for binding data with methods that operate on that data ** Object-orientation, in which concepts are represented as objects *** Object-oriented programming (OOP), in which an object is an instance of a class or array ** Object (IBM i), the fundamental unit of data storage in the IBM i operating system * Object (image processing), a portion of an image interpreted as a unit * Object file, the output of a compiler or other translator program (also known as "object code") * Object, an in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Emission-line Stars
A spectral line is a dark or bright line in an otherwise uniform and continuous spectrum, resulting from emission or absorption of light in a narrow frequency range, compared with the nearby frequencies. Spectral lines are often used to identify atoms and molecules. These "fingerprints" can be compared to the previously collected ones of atoms and molecules, and are thus used to identify the atomic and molecular components of stars and planets, which would otherwise be impossible. Types of line spectra Spectral lines are the result of interaction between a quantum system (usually atoms, but sometimes molecules or atomic nuclei) and a single photon. When a photon has about the right amount of energy (which is connected to its frequency) to allow a change in the energy state of the system (in the case of an atom this is usually an electron changing orbitals), the photon is absorbed. Then the energy will be spontaneously re-emitted, either as one photon at the same frequency ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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B-type Hypergiants
B type or Type B may refer to: Astronomy * B-type asteroid, a type of relatively uncommon type of carbonaceous asteroid * B-type giant, a type of blue giant star * B-type star, a type of star Biology * B type blood, a type in the ABO blood group system * B type inclusion, a type of inclusions in cells infected with poxvirus * B-type natriuretic peptide, a type of brain natriuretic peptides * B type proanthocyanidin, a specific type of flavanoids * Type B evaluation of uncertainty, an uncertainty in measurement inferred from scientific judgement or other information concerning the possible values of the quantity * Type B personality, a type in the Type A and Type B personality theory Others * B-type warbird, a type of Romulan starship * Type B videotape, an open-reel videotape format * Curtiss-built B-type, a type of B class blimp * LGOC B-type, a model of double-decker bus that was introduced in London on 1910 * Mann Egerton Type B, a 1910s British maritime patrol aircraft * T ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bolometric Luminosity
Luminosity is an absolute measure of radiated electromagnetic power (light), the radiant power emitted by a light-emitting object over time. In astronomy, luminosity is the total amount of electromagnetic energy emitted per unit of time by a star, galaxy, or other astronomical object. In SI units, luminosity is measured in joules per second, or watts. In astronomy, values for luminosity are often given in the terms of the luminosity of the Sun, ''L''⊙. Luminosity can also be given in terms of the astronomical magnitude system: the absolute bolometric magnitude (''M''bol) of an object is a logarithmic measure of its total energy emission rate, while absolute magnitude is a logarithmic measure of the luminosity within some specific wavelength range or filter band. In contrast, the term ''brightness'' in astronomy is generally used to refer to an object's apparent brightness: that is, how bright an object appears to an observer. Apparent brightness depends on both the lum ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Most Luminous Stars
This is a list of stars arranged by their absolute magnitude – their intrinsic stellar luminosity. This cannot be observed directly, so instead must be calculated from the apparent magnitude (the brightness as seen from Earth), the distance to each star, and a correction for interstellar extinction. The entries in the list below are further corrected to provide the bolometric magnitude, i.e. integrated over all wavelengths; this relies upon measurements in multiple photometric filters and extrapolation of the stellar spectrum based on the stellar spectral type and/or effective temperature. Entries give the bolometric luminosity in multiples of the luminosity of the Sun () and the bolometric absolute magnitude. As with all magnitude systems in astronomy, the latter scale is logarithmic and inverted i.e. more negative numbers are more luminous. Most stars on this list are not bright enough to be visible to the naked eye from Earth, because of their high distances, high ex ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Alpha Cygni Variable
Alpha Cygni variables are variable stars which exhibit non-radial pulsations, meaning that some portions of the stellar surface are contracting at the same time other parts expand. They are supergiant stars of spectral types B or A. Variations in brightness on the order of 0.1 magnitudes are associated with the pulsations, which often seem irregular, due to beating of multiple pulsation periods. The pulsations typically have periods of several days to several weeks. The prototype of these stars, Deneb (α Cygni), exhibits fluctuations in brightness between magnitudes +1.21 and +1.29. Small amplitude rapid variations have been known in many early supergiant stars, but they were not formally grouped into a class until the 4th edition of the General Catalogue of Variable Stars was published in 1985. It used the acronym ACYG for Alpha Cygni variable stars. Many luminous blue variables (LBVs) show Alpha Cygni-type variability during their quiescent (hot) phases, but the LBV classi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Periastron
An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. For example, the apsides of the Earth are called the aphelion and perihelion. General description There are two apsides in any elliptic orbit. The name for each apsis is created from the prefixes ''ap-'', ''apo-'' (), or ''peri-'' (), each referring to the farthest and closest point to the primary body the affixing necessary suffix that describes the primary body in the orbit. In this case, the suffix for Earth is ''-gee'', so the apsides' names are ''apogee'' and ''perigee''. For the Sun, its suffix is ''-helion'', so the names are ''aphelion'' and ''perihelion''. According to Newton's laws of motion, all periodic orbits are ellipses. The barycenter of the two bodies may lie well within the bigger body—e.g., the Earth–Moon barycenter is about 75% of the way from Earth's center to its surface. If, compared to the larger mass, the smaller mass is negligible (e.g., f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |