ν Pavonis, Latinized as Nu Pavonis, is a possible triple star system in the southern

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 Pavo. It is visible to the naked eye as a faint star that varies in apparent visual magnitude from 4.60 to 4.64 over a period of 0.85584 days. The system lies approximately 440 light years from the Sun based on

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 ...

, and is drifting further away 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 +17 km/s. It is a possible member of the Wolf 630 group of co-moving stars. NuPavLightCurve

This is 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 ...

system with an

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 just 1.71 days in a circular orbit. The unresolved components are close enough that their tidal interaction is significant. The visible component is a

slowly pulsating B-type star A slowly pulsating B-type star (SPB), formerly known as a 53 Persei variable, is a type of pulsating variable star. They may also be termed a long-period pulsating B star (LPB). As the name implies, they are main-sequence stars of spectral type B2 ...

with 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 B7III. This implies it is an

evolved Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation t ...

giant star, but it is actually more likely to be on the

main sequence In astronomy, the main sequence is a continuous and distinctive band of stars that appears on plots of stellar color versus brightness. These color-magnitude plots are known as Hertzsprung–Russell diagrams after their co-developers, Ejnar Her ...

. An

X-ray emission Astrophysical X-ray sources are astronomical objects with physical properties which result in the emission of X-rays. Several types of astrophysical objects emit X-rays. They include galaxy clusters, black holes in active galactic nuclei (AGN), ...

has been detected from the pair. The third component is a visible companion, probably a pre-main-sequence star, at magnitude 13.7 and separation . This star is estimated at 0.15 solar masses and an effective temperature of 3,192 K. It too is an X-ray source.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nu Pavonis B-type giants Slowly pulsating B-type stars Spectroscopic binaries Pavo (constellation) Pavonis, Nu Durchmusterung objects 169978 090797 6916