Eta Ophiuchi (η Ophiuchi, abbreviated Eta Oph, η Oph) is a

binary star A binary star or binary star system 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 as separate stars us ...

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 first constellati ...

Ophiuchus Ophiuchus () is a large constellation straddling the celestial equator. Its name comes from the Ancient Greek (), meaning "serpent-bearer", and it is commonly represented as a man grasping a snake. The serpent is represented by the constellati ...

. With a combined

apparent magnitude Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the Irradiance, brightness of a star, astronomical object or other celestial objects like artificial satellites. Its value depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance, and any extinction (astronomy), ...

of +2.43, it is the second-brightest of the constellation and one of the brightest stars in the night sky. Based on

parallax Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different sightline, lines of sight and is measured by the angle or half-angle of inclination between those two lines. Due to perspective (graphica ...

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 and distances of ...

mission, it is approximately 88

light-year A light-year, alternatively spelled light year (ly or lyr), is a unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equal to exactly , which is approximately 9.46 trillion km or 5.88 trillion mi. As defined by the International Astr ...

s away. Eta Ophiuchi is part of a

multiple star system A star system or stellar system is a small number of stars that orbit each other, bound by gravitational attraction. It may sometimes be used to refer to a single star. A large group of stars bound by gravitation is generally called a ''st ...

designated WDS J17104-1544. It itself is designated WDS J17104-1544AB and its two components WDS J17104-1544A (also called Sabik , the traditional name for the system) and WDS J17104-1544B. The 'C' component is UCAC4 372-080717 and 'D' is UCAC2 26022336.

Nomenclature

''η Ophiuchi'' ( Latinised to ''Eta Ophiuchi'') is the system's

Bayer designation A Bayer designation is a stellar designation in which a specific star is identified by a Greek alphabet, Greek or Latin letter followed by the genitive case, genitive form of its parent constellation's Latin name. The original list of Bayer design ...

. WDS J17104-1544AB is its designation in the

Washington Double Star Catalog The Washington Double Star Catalog, or WDS, is a catalog of double stars, maintained at the United States Naval Observatory. The catalog contains positions, magnitudes, proper motions and spectral types and has entries for (as of January 2024) 1 ...

. The designations of the two components as WDS J17104-1544 A and B derive from the convention used by the Washington Multiplicity Catalog (WMC) for

s, and adopted by the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...

(IAU). It bore the traditional name ''Sabik'', from the Arabic السابق ''al-sābiq'' "the preceding one", of uncertain reference. 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 approved the name ''Sabik'' for the component WDS J17104-1544 A on 21 August 2016 and it is now so included in the List of IAU-approved Star Names. In Chinese, this star is considered part of (), meaning '' Left Wall of Heavenly Market Enclosure'', which refers to an asterism representing eleven old states in China that mark the left borderline of the enclosure, consisting of Eta Ophiuchi, Delta Herculis, Lambda Herculis,

Mu Herculis Mu Herculis (μ Herculis) is a nearby quadruple star system about 27.1 light years from Earth in the constellation Hercules (constellation), Hercules. Its main star, Mu Herculis A is fairly similar to the Sun although more hig ...

, Omicron Herculis, 112 Herculis, Zeta Aquilae, Theta Serpentis, Eta Serpentis, Nu Ophiuchi and Xi Serpentis. Consequently, the

Chinese name Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethni ...

for Eta Ophiuchi itself is (, ), representing the state

Song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

(宋).English-Chinese Glossary of Chinese Star Regions, Asterisms and Star Name
, Hong Kong Space Museum. Accessed on line November 23, 2010.

Namesake

USS Sabik (AK-121) was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

Crater class cargo ship named after the star.

Properties

Eta Ophiuchi consists on two

A-type main-sequence star An A-type main-sequence star (A) or A dwarf star is a main-sequence (hydrogen burning) star of spectral type A and luminosity class (five). These stars have spectra defined by strong hydrogen Balmer absorption lines. They measure between 1 ...

s, currently fusing hydrogen into helium at their core. The primary, of

+3.05, has about 2.5 times the Sun's radius and 2.25 times its

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

, with an

effective temperature The effective temperature of a body such as a star or planet is the temperature of a black body that would emit the same total amount of electromagnetic radiation. Effective temperature is often used as an estimate of a body's surface temperature ...

around 9,000 K. The secondary, of apparent magnitude +3.27, is 2 times as large and massive than the Sun, with an

of 8,700 K. The estimated age of the system is 500 million years, albeit with significant uncertainty. The stars take 87.8 years to complete an orbit, which is highly elliptical: While the

semi-major axis In geometry, the major axis of an ellipse is its longest diameter: a line segment that runs through the center and both foci, with ends at the two most widely separated points of the perimeter. The semi-major axis (major semiaxis) is the longe ...

is 31

astronomical unit The astronomical unit (symbol: au or AU) is a unit of length defined to be exactly equal to . Historically, the astronomical unit was conceived as the average Earth-Sun distance (the average of Earth's aphelion and perihelion), before its m ...

s, the high

orbital eccentricity In astrodynamics, the orbital eccentricity of an astronomical object is a dimensionless parameter that determines the amount by which its orbit around another body deviates from a perfect circle. A value of 0 is a circular orbit, values be ...

of 0.931 take them to a distance of 2.15 au during their closest approach (the

periastron An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary-mass object, planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two maximum a ...

); the last of such occurring in 2024. Such large eccentricity hindered accurate measurements of the stellar mass with the Kepler's third law, until observations with the

Very Large Telescope The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is an astronomical facility operated since 1998 by the European Southern Observatory, located on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. It consists of four individual telescopes, each equipped with ...

during the most recent periastron accurately determined orbital elements such as the eccentricity, hence a considerable mass sum for A2V-type stars.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eta Ophiuchi Ophiuchi, Eta Binary stars Ophiuchi, 35 155125 084012 Ophiuchus A-type main-sequence stars 6378 BD-15 4467 0656.1 Sabik