AB Doradus is a pre-main-sequence quadruple

star system A star system or stellar system is a small number of stars that orbit each other, bound by gravitational attraction. A large group of stars bound by gravitation is generally called a '' star cluster'' or '' galaxy'', although, broadly speak ...

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 ...

Dorado Dorado () is a constellation in the southern sky. It was named in the late 16th century and is now one of the 88 modern constellations. Its name refers to the dolphinfish (''Coryphaena hippurus''), which is known as ''dorado'' in Spanish, altho ...

. The primary is a

flare star A flare star is a variable star that can undergo unpredictable dramatic increases in brightness for a few minutes. It is believed that the flares on flare stars are analogous to solar flares in that they are due to the magnetic energy stored in th ...

that shows periodic increases in activity. ABDorLightCurve

The primary star in this system spins at a rate 50 times that of the Sun, and consequently has a strong magnetic field. It has a greater number of star spots than the Sun. These can cause the luminosity of the star to appear to vary over each orbital cycle. Measurements of the spin rate of this star at its equator have shown that it varies over time due to the effect of this magnetic field. The system has four components consisting of a pair of binary star systems separated by an angle of about 9″. The binary star AB Doradus Ba/Bb orbits the primary AB Doradus A at an average distance of 135

astronomical unit The astronomical unit (symbol: au, or or AU) is a unit of length, roughly the distance from Earth to the Sun and approximately equal to or 8.3 light-minutes. The actual distance from Earth to the Sun varies by about 3% as Earth orbits t ...

s (AUs). AB Doradus C is a closer in companion that orbits the primary at a distance of 5.1 AU, and has an orbital period of 11.75 years. AB Doradus C is among the lowest-mass stars ever found. At an estimated mass 93 times

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...

's, it is near the limit of 75–83 Jupiter masses below which it would be classified as a

brown dwarf Brown dwarfs (also called failed stars) are substellar objects that are not massive enough to sustain nuclear fusion of ordinary hydrogen ( 1H) into helium in their cores, unlike a main-sequence star. Instead, they have a mass between the most ...

. However, recent evidence indicates that the star may actually be a binary system itself, consisting of two brown dwarfs, AB Doradus Ca/Cb, with 72 and 13 Jupiter masses, respectively. This system is a member of the eponymous AB Doradus Moving Group, a loose stellar association of about 30 stars that are all approximately the same age and moving in the same general direction. It is likely that all of these stars formed in the same

giant molecular cloud A molecular cloud, sometimes called a stellar nursery (if star formation is occurring within), is a type of interstellar cloud, the density and size of which permit absorption nebulae, the formation of molecules (most commonly molecular hydrogen, ...

References

External links

* http://jumk.de/astronomie/special-stars/ab-doradus.shtml * {{DEFAULTSORT:AB Doradus Dorado (constellation) Flare stars 4 K-type main-sequence stars M-type main-sequence stars 036705 025647 Durchmusterung objects Doradus, AB