32 Virginis, also known as FM Virginis, is a star located about 250 light years from the Earth, in the constellation

Virgo Virgo may refer to: *Virgo (astrology), the sixth astrological sign of the zodiac * Virgo (constellation), a constellation *Virgo Cluster, a cluster of galaxies in the constellation Virgo *Virgo Stellar Stream, remains of a dwarf galaxy * Virgo Su ...

. Its

apparent 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 ...

ranges from 5.20 to 5.28, making it faintly visible to the naked eye of an observer well away from city lights. 32 Virginis is a binary star, and the more massive component of the binary is a

Delta Scuti variable A Delta Scuti variable (sometimes termed dwarf cepheid when the V-band amplitude is larger than 0.3 mag.) is a subclass of young pulsating star. These variables as well as classical cepheids are important standard candles and have been used to es ...

star which oscillates with a dominant period of 103.51 minutes. In 1914,

Walter Sydney Adams Walter Sydney Adams (December 20, 1876 – May 11, 1956) was an American astronomer. Life and work Adams was born in Antioch, Turkey, to Lucien Harper Adams and Nancy Dorrance Francis Adams, missionary parents, and was brought to the U.S. i ...

announced that 32 Virginis is a spectroscopic binary. John Beattie Cannon published the first set of orbital elements for the binary system in 1915. Corrado Bartolini ''et al.'' made photometric observations of the star in early 1971, and found that the star showed variability due to pulsations. In 1974, 32 Virginis was given the

variable star designation In astronomy, a variable star designation is a unique identifier given to variable stars. It uses a variation on the Bayer designation format, with an identifying label (as described below) preceding the Latin genitive of the name of the conste ...

FM Virginis. Donald Kurtz ''et al.'' determined that the star was a Delta Scuti variable, in 1976. The primary star is believed to be an

Am star An Am star or metallic-line star is a type of chemically peculiar star of spectral type A whose spectrum has strong and often variable absorption lines of metals such as zinc, strontium, zirconium, and barium, and deficiencies of others, such as ca ...

similar to

rho Puppis Rho Puppis (ρ Puppis, abbreviated Rho Pup, ρ Pup), formally named Tureis , is a star in the southern constellation of Puppis. With an average apparent visual magnitude of 2.78, it is the third-brightest member o ...

- a pulsating post- main sequence star.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:32 Virginis Delta Scuti variables Virgo (constellation) 62267 110951 Durchmusterung objects Virginis, FM Virginis, 32 Virginis, d02