Mu Andromedae (Mu And, μ Andromedae, μ And) is the

Bayer designation A Bayer designation is a stellar designation in which a specific star is identified by a Greek or Latin letter followed by the genitive form of its parent constellation's Latin name. The original list of Bayer designations contained 1,564 stars. ...

for a

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

in the northern

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the e ...

of Andromeda. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 3.87, making it readily visible to the naked eye. Based upon

parallax Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight and is measured by the angle or semi-angle of inclination between those two lines. Due to foreshortening, nearby objects ...

measurements, it is approximately from

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

. In the constellation, the star is situated about halfway between the bright star

Mirach Beta Andromedae, Latinized from β Andromedae, and officially named Mirach , is a prominent star in the northern constellation of Andromeda. It is northeast of the Great Square of Pegasus and is potentially visible to all observer ...

to the southwest and the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) to the northeast. The

spectrum A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors i ...

of this star matches a

stellar classification In astronomy, stellar classification is the classification of stars based on their stellar spectrum, spectral characteristics. Electromagnetic radiation from the star is analyzed by splitting it with a Prism (optics), prism or diffraction grati ...

of A5 V, indicating that it is an A-type main sequence star. It has double the mass of the Sun and 2.4 times the Sun's radius. The star is radiating about 21 times the luminosity of the Sun from its outer envelope at an

effective temperature The effective temperature of a body such as a star or planet is the temperature of a black body that would emit the same total amount of electromagnetic radiation. Effective temperature is often used as an estimate of a body's surface temperature ...

of 7,959 K, giving it the characteristic white glow of an A-type star. It is estimated to be about 600 million years old, with a relatively high

projected rotational velocity Stellar rotation is the angular motion of a star about its axis. The rate of rotation can be measured from the spectrum of the star, or by timing the movements of active features on the surface. The rotation of a star produces an equatorial bulge ...

of 75 km/s. Mu Andromedae has recently been found to be a binary system. The two stars orbit each other every 550.7 days.

Naming

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

, (), meaning ''

Legs A leg is a weight-bearing and locomotive anatomical structure, usually having a columnar shape. During locomotion, legs function as "extensible struts". The combination of movements at all joints can be modeled as a single, linear element ...

(asterism)'', refers to an asterism consisting of μ Andromedae,

η Andromedae Eta Andromedae (Eta And, η Andromedae, η And) is a spectroscopic binary star in the constellation of Andromeda. It consists of two G-type subgiant or giant stars orbiting each other with a period of 115.7 days an ...

, 65 Piscium, ζ Andromedae, ε Andromedae, δ Andromedae,

π Andromedae Pi Andromedae (Pi And, π Andromedae, π And) is the Bayer designation for a binary star system in the northern constellation of Andromeda. With an apparent visual magnitude of 4.4, it is visible to the naked eye. It i ...

ν Andromedae Nu Andromedae (Nu And, ν Andromedae, ν And) is a binary star in the constellation Andromeda. The system has an apparent visual magnitude of 4.5, which is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye. It is approximately ...

, β Andromedae,

σ Piscium Sigma Piscium (Sigma Psc, σ Piscium, σ Psc) is a main-sequence star in the zodiac constellation of Pisces. It has an apparent magnitude of +5.50, meaning it is barely visible to the naked eye, according to the Bortle ...

, τ Piscium,

91 Piscium This is the list of notable stars in the constellation Pisces, sorted by decreasing brightness. See also *List of stars by constellation References * * * * * {{Stars of Pisces *List Pisces Pisces may refer to: * Pisces, an obsolete (beca ...

, υ Piscium,

φ Piscium Phi Piscium, Latinized from φ Piscium, is a quadruple star system approximately 380 light years away in the constellation Pisces. It consists of Phi Piscium A, with a spectral type of K0III, and Phi Piscium B. Phi Piscium A posses ...

, χ Piscium and ψ¹ Piscium. Consequently, the Chinese name for μ Andromedae itself is (, en, the Eighth Star of Legs.)AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) 天文教育資訊網 2006 年 5 月 19 日
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References

External links

* http://www.alcyone-software.com/cgi-bin/search.pl?object=HR0269
Image μ Andromedae
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mu Andromedae Andromeda (constellation) A-type main-sequence stars Andromedae, Mu Andromedae, 37 0269 005448 BD+37 0175 004436 Binary stars