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
binary star
A binary star is a system of two stars that are gravitationally bound to and in orbit around each other. Binary stars in the night sky that are seen as a single object to the naked eye are often resolved using a telescope as separate stars, in wh ...
system in the
equatorial Equatorial may refer to something related to:
*Earth's equator
**the tropics, the Earth's equatorial region
**tropical climate
*the Celestial equator
** equatorial orbit
**equatorial coordinate system
** equatorial mount, of telescopes
* equatorial ...
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
Aquarius
Aquarius may refer to:
Astrology
* Aquarius (astrology), an astrological sign
* Age of Aquarius, a time period in the cycle of astrological ages
Astronomy
* Aquarius (constellation)
* Aquarius in Chinese astronomy
Arts and entertainment ...
. It is visible to the naked eye with a combined
apparent visual magnitude
Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the brightness of a star or other astronomical object observed from Earth. An object's apparent magnitude depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance from Earth, and any extinction of the object's lig ...
of 4.7. 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, the distance to this system is about . It is drifting closer to the
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
with a
radial velocity
The radial velocity or line-of-sight velocity, also known as radial speed or range rate, of a target with respect to an observer is the temporal rate of change, rate of change of the distance or Slant range, range between the two points. It is e ...
of −9.1 km/s.
This star was tentatively identified as a single-lined
spectroscopic binary
A binary star is a system of two star, stars that are gravity, gravitationally bound to and in orbit around each other. Binary stars in the night sky that are seen as a single object to the naked eye are often resolved using a telescope as separa ...
orbital period
The orbital period (also revolution period) is the amount of time a given astronomical object takes to complete one orbit around another object. In astronomy, it usually applies to planets or asteroids orbiting the Sun, moons orbiting planets ...
of and an
eccentricity
Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to:
* Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal"
Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics
* Off-center, in geometry
* Eccentricity (graph theory) of a v ...
(ovalness) of 0.23. The pair have been resolved by
speckle interferometry
Speckle imaging describes a range of high-resolution astronomical imaging techniques based on the analysis of large numbers of short exposures that freeze the variation of atmospheric turbulence. They can be divided into the shift-and-add ("''i ...
, showing an
angular separation
Angular distance \theta (also known as angular separation, apparent distance, or apparent separation) is the angle between the two sightlines, or between two point objects as viewed from an observer.
Angular distance appears in mathematics (in pa ...
of . The visible
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 ...
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 A3m, with the 'm' suffix indicating that this is an Am, or
chemically peculiar star
In astrophysics, chemically peculiar stars (CP stars) are stars with distinctly unusual Metallicity, metal abundances, at least in their surface layers.
Classification
Chemically peculiar stars are common among hot main-sequence (hydrogen-burning) ...
. The primary has an estimated 3.5 times the Sun's radius and is radiating 26 times the
luminosity of the Sun
The solar luminosity (), is a unit of radiant flux (power emitted in the form of photons) conventionally used by astronomers to measure the luminosity of stars, galaxies and other celestial objects in terms of the output of the Sun.
One nominal s ...
from its
photosphere
The photosphere is a star's outer shell from which light is radiated.
The term itself is derived from Ancient Greek roots, φῶς, φωτός/''phos, photos'' meaning "light" and σφαῖρα/''sphaira'' meaning "sphere", in reference to it ...
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 6,906 km/s.
This star together with
ν Aquarii
Nu Aquarii (ν Aqr, ν Aquarii) is the Bayer designation for a star in the equatorial constellation of Aquarius.
With an apparent visual magnitude of 4.52, Nu Aquarii is visible to the naked eye. Its distance from Earth, as determined fr ...
is
Albulaan The traditional star name Albulaan refers to two stars in the Aquarius constellation:
* μ Aquarii
* ν Aquarii
The name derives from the Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the ...
, derived from an
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
term ''al-bulaʽān'' (''ألبولعان'') meaning "the two swallowers". This star, along with
ε Aqr
Epsilon Aquarii, Latinized from ε Aquarii, is a single star in the equatorial zodiac constellation of Aquarius, located near the western constellation border with Capricornus. It has the proper name Albali , now formally recognized by t ...
(Albali) and ν Aqr (Albulaan), were ''al Bulaʽ'' (''البلع''), the Swallower. In
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 ''
Girl
A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. When a girl becomes an adult, she is accurately described as a ''woman''. However, the term ''girl'' is also used for other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary ...
(asterism)'' (or ''Woman''), refers to an asterism consisting of μ Aquarii, ε Aquarii,
4 Aquarii
4 Aquarii (abbreviated 4 Aqr) is a binary star system in the constellation Aquarius, located approximately 198 light years away from the Sun. ''4 Aquarii'' is the Flamsteed designation. It is visible to the naked eye as a dim, yellow ...
,
5 Aquarii
5 Aquarii is a single star in the zodiac constellation of Aquarius, located about 830 light years away from the Sun, based on parallax. ''5 Aquarii'' is the Flamsteed designation. It is visible to the naked eye as a faint, blue-white ...
and
3 Aquarii
3 Aquarii (abbreviated 3 Aqr) is a variable star in the equatorial constellation of Aquarius. ''3 Aquarii'' is the Flamsteed designation; it also bears the Bayer designation k Aquarii and the variable star designation EN Aquarii. With a ...
. Consequently, the
Chinese name
Chinese names or Chinese personal names are names used by individuals from Greater China and other parts of the Chinese-speaking world throughout East and Southeast Asia (ESEA). In addition, many names used in Japan, Korea and Vietnam are often a ...
Albulaan The traditional star name Albulaan refers to two stars in the Aquarius constellation:
* μ Aquarii
* ν Aquarii
The name derives from the Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the ...