44 Boötis or i Boötis is a triple star system in the

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 ...

Boötes Boötes ( ) is a constellation in the northern sky, located between 0° and +60° declination, and 13 and 16 hours of right ascension on the celestial sphere. The name comes from la, Boōtēs, which comes from grc-gre, Βοώτης, Boṓtēs ...

. It is approximately 41.6 light years from Earth. 44 Boötis can be resolved into two stars, of 5th and 6th magnitudes respectively. They were separated by when the pair were confirmed in 1819, but were only by 2020 as the two orbit every 210 years. The primary component, 44 Boötis A, is a yellow-white G-type main sequence dwarf with a mean

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 li ...

of +4.83. The companion component, 44 Boötis B, is a W Ursae Majoris variable

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 ...

. The variability of this star system was discovered by English astronomer William Herschel. The brightness of the

eclipsing binary 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 ...

varies from magnitude +5.8 to +6.40 with a period of 6.43 hours. The two eclipsing components of the are close enough to allow their stellar envelopes to overlap, or at least nearly so. The 44 Boötis system is 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 ...

. It also may show signs of an infrared excess, implying the existence of a dust disk that absorbs visible light and re-emits it as infrared light. The dust would have a blackbody temperature of about 23 K, situated up to 182 au from the parent star.

References

External links

HR 5618

Image 44 Boötis

CCDM J15038+4739
{{DEFAULTSORT:44 Bootis Boötes Bootis, i Bootis, 44 133640 087379 Spectroscopic binaries Triple star systems W Ursae Majoris variables G-type main-sequence stars Bootis, 44 5618 0575 BD+48 2259 K-type main-sequence stars