Omicron Persei (ο Persei, abbreviated Omicron Per, ο Per) is a

triple 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 speaking, ...

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 ...

Perseus In Greek mythology, Perseus (Help:IPA/English, /ˈpɜːrsiəs, -sjuːs/; Greek language, Greek: Περσεύς, Romanization of Greek, translit. Perseús) is the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty. He was, alongside Cadmus ...

. From

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 taken during the

Hipparcos ''Hipparcos'' was a scientific satellite of the European Space Agency (ESA), launched in 1989 and operated until 1993. It was the first space experiment devoted to precision astrometry, the accurate measurement of the positions of celestial obj ...

mission it is approximately 1,100

light-year A light-year, alternatively spelled light year, is a large unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equivalent to about 9.46 trillion kilometers (), or 5.88 trillion miles ().One trillion here is taken to be 1012 ...

s (330

parsec The parsec (symbol: pc) is a unit of length used to measure the large distances to astronomical objects outside the Solar System, approximately equal to or (au), i.e. . The parsec unit is obtained by the use of parallax and trigonometry, and ...

s) from 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 ...

. The system consists of a

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 ...

pair designated Omicron Persei A and a third companion Omicron Persei B. A's two components are themselves designated Omicron Persei Aa (officially named Atik , the traditional name of the system) and Ab.

Etymology

''ο Persei'' ( Latinised to ''Omicron Persei'') is the system's

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. ...

. The designations of the two constituents as ''Omicron Persei A'' and ''B'', and those of ''A's'' components - ''Omicron Persei Aa'' and ''Ab'' - derive from the convention used by the Washington Multiplicity Catalog (WMC) for

multiple 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 speaki ...

s, and adopted by the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...

(IAU). It bore the traditional name ''Atik'' (also ''Ati'', ''Al Atik''),

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 ...

for "the shoulder". Some sources attribute the name ''Atik'' to the nearby, brighter star

Zeta Persei Zeta Persei (ζ Per, ζ Persei) is a star in the northern constellation of Perseus. With an apparent visual magnitude of 2.9, it can be readily seen with the naked eye. Parallax measurements place it at a distance of about from Earth. De ...

. In 2016, the

organized a

Working Group on Star Names The International Astronomical Union (IAU) established a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) in May 2016 to catalog and standardize proper names for stars for the international astronomical community. It operates under Division C – Education ...

(WGSN) to catalogue and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN decided to attribute proper names to individual stars rather than entire multiple systems. It approved the name ''Atik'' for the component Omicron Persei A on 12 September 2016 and it is now so included in the List of IAU-approved Star Names. 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 ...

, (), meaning '' Rolled Tongue'', refers to an asterism consisting of Omicron Persei, Nu Persei,

Epsilon Persei Epsilon Persei, Latinized from ε Persei, is a multiple star system in the northern constellation of Perseus. It has a combined apparent visual magnitude of +2.88, which is bright enough to be viewed with the naked eye. Based upon ...

Xi Persei Xi Persei (ξ Persei, abbreviated Xi Per, ξ Per), known also as Menkib , is a star in the constellation of Perseus (constellation), Perseus. Based upon stellar parallax, parallax measurements taken during the Hipparcos mission, it is app ...

and 40 Persei. 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 ...

for Omicron Persei itself is (), "the Fifth Star of Rolled Tongue".香港太空館 - 研究資源 - 亮星中英對照表
, Hong Kong Space Museum. Accessed on line November 23, 2010.

Properties

Omicron Persei A is a

consisting of a

spectral type 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 ...

B1 giant and a type B2 dwarf orbiting each other every 4.4 days. The orbit is near-circular although its inclination is not precisely known. The two stars are separated by approximately , the exact value depending on the inclination. The primary is approximately one

magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object *Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector *Order of ...

brighter than the secondary at visual wavelengths. The binary pair forms a

rotating ellipsoidal variable Rotating ellipsoidal variables are a class of variable star. They are close binary systems whose components are ellipsoidal. They are not eclipsing, but fluctuations in apparent magnitude occur due to changes in the amount of light emitting area ...

star, which varies in brightness from visual magnitude 3.79 to 3.88 during the orbital period. Omicron Persei lies just north of the

open cluster An open cluster is a type of star cluster made of up to a few thousand stars that were formed from the same giant molecular cloud and have roughly the same age. More than 1,100 open clusters have been discovered within the Milky Way galaxy, and ...

IC 348 IC 348 is a star formation, star-forming region in the constellation Perseus (constellation), Perseus located about 315 parsecs from the Sun. It consists of nebulosity and an associated 2-million-year-old cluster of roughly 400 stars within ...

, but is not catalogued as a member. Both IC 348 and Omicron Persei belong to the Perseus OB2 association.

Culture

* In the TV series

Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years a ...

, the fictional

planet A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a you ...

''Omicron Persei 8'' is home to medicinal

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

s, and large

alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

s who often attack

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 ...

. * The USS ''Atik'' was a ship of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

References

External links

Atik
{{DEFAULTSORT:Omicron Persei Perseus (constellation) Persei, Omicron B-type giants B-type main-sequence stars Spectroscopic binaries Atik Persei, 38

1131 Year 1131 ( MCXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Levant * August 21 – King Baldwin II falls seriously ill, after his return from Antioch ...

023180 017448 Durchmusterung objects

Etymology

Properties

Culture

See also

References

External links