V357 Carinae (a Car, a Carinae) is an

astrometric Astrometry is a branch of astronomy that involves precise measurements of the positions and movements of stars and other celestial bodies. It provides the kinematics and physical origin of the Solar System and this galaxy, the Milky Way. His ...

and spectroscopic binary in the constellation

Carina Carina may refer to: Places Australia * Carina, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane * Carina Heights, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane * Carina, Victoria, a locality in Mildura Serbia * Carina, Osečina, a village in the Kolubara District ...

. It is approximately 419 light years 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 ...

. The 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 ...

of the system is +3.43.

Location

The star appears 46.0' (0.7668°) ENE of

Iota Carinae Iota Carinae (ι Carinae, abbreviated Iota Car, ι Car), officially named Aspidiske , is a star in the southern constellation of Carina. With an apparent visual magnitude of 2.2, it is one of the brighter stars in the night sky. Appe ...

at the heart of the asterism and constellation which is skewed in having bulk of the stars away from the eastern,

Canopus Canopus is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Carina and the second-brightest star in the night sky. It is also designated α Carinae, which is Latinised to Alpha Carinae. With a visual apparent magnitude ...

prow of the ship and close to the imagined sails of the ship, Vela.

Variability

V357 Carinae is a probable

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 e ...

; its brightness varies from magnitude +3.41 to +3.44 with a period of 6.74 days, which is its

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 ...

. It was classified as an

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 w ...

in Gaposchkin's original catalogue of variable stars, although the variability was often considered doubtful. It is now thought most likely to be a very shallow eclipsing binary.

System

V357 Carinae is an astrometric binary, meaning its motion in the sky implies orbital motion about an invisible companion. It is also a single-lined spectroscopic binary, and possibly a triple system. The two closest components orbit each other in 6.74 days, while the observed astrometric motion is much longer.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:V357 Carinae Carinae, a B-type subgiants Carina (constellation) Eclipsing binaries Spectroscopic binaries Carinae, V357 079351 3659 045080 Durchmusterung objects