PV Telescopii, also known as HD 168476, is a

variable star A variable star is a star whose brightness as seen from Earth (its apparent magnitude) changes with time. This variation may be caused by a change in emitted light or by something partly blocking the light, so variable stars are classified as ...

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 ...

Telescopium Telescopium is a minor constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere, one of twelve named in the 18th century by French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille and one of several depicting scientific instruments. Its name is a Latinized for ...

. It is too dim to be visible to the naked eye, having an

apparent visual 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 lig ...

that has been measured varying from 9.24 down to 9.40. The star is the prototype of a class of objects called

PV Telescopii variable PV Telescopii variable is a type of variable star that is established in the ''General Catalogue of Variable Stars'' with the acronym PVTEL. This class of variables are defined as "helium supergiant Bp stars with weak hydrogen lines and enhanced l ...

s. It is located at an estimated distance of approximately 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 ...

, but is drifting closer 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 −169 km/s. This is an

extreme helium star An extreme helium star (abbreviated EHe) is a low-mass supergiant that is almost devoid of hydrogen, the most common chemical element of the Universe. Since there are no known conditions where stars devoid of hydrogen can be formed from molecular c ...

that shows a highly-processed atmosphere. It is a blue-white hued B-type

supergiant Supergiants are among the most massive and most luminous stars. Supergiant stars occupy the top region of the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram with absolute visual magnitudes between about −3 and −8. The temperature range of supergiant stars spa ...

star with a peculiar spectrum that has "weak

hydrogen line The hydrogen line, 21 centimeter line, or H I line is the electromagnetic radiation spectral line that is created by a change in the energy state of neutral hydrogen atoms. This electromagnetic radiation has a precise frequency of , w ...

s and enhanced lines of He and C". This object may be a late thermal pulse post- AGB star or the result of a merger of two

white dwarf A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to the Sun's, while its volume is comparable to the Earth's. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes fro ...

stars. The star shows radial velocity changes thought to be due to radial pulsations caused by a strange mode instability. It shows variations over a few days, 8–10 days being typically quoted. Despite a mass thought to be less than the sun, it is actually around 24,000 more luminous.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:PV Telescopii B-type supergiants PV Telescopii variables Telescopium (constellation) Durchmusterung objects 168476 090099 Telescopii, PV