Xi Cephei (ξ Cephei, abbreviated Xi Cep, ξ Cep) is 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 ...

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 ...

of Cepheus. It is approximately 102

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 from

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

and has an

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), ...

for all the components combined of 4.29. It consists of 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 ...

, designated Xi Cephei A, together with a more distant companion, Xi Cephei B. A's two components are themselves designated Xi Cephei Aa (officially named Kurhah , the traditional name of the system) and Ab.

Nomenclature

''ξ Cephei'' ( Latinised to ''Xi Cephei'') 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 ...

. The designations of the three constituents as ''ξ Cephei A'', ''B'' and ''C'', and those of ''A's'' components - ''ξ Cephei Aa'' and ''Ab'' - 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). Xi Cephei bore the traditional names ''Kurhah'', ''Alkirdah'' or ''Al Kirduh'', the name coming from Qazvini who gave ''Al Ḳurḥaḥ'' (''القرحة'' ''al-qurhah''), an

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

word Ideler translated as a white spot, or blaze, in the face of a horse. Allen indicates that Ideler felt this was not a proper name for a star, and suggested the name ''Al Ḳirdah'' (ألقردة ''al qírada'' "the Ape"). 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 ''Kurhah'' for the component Xi Cephei Aa on 12 September 2016 and it is now so included in the List of IAU-approved Star Names. In Chinese, (), meaning '' Celestial Hook'', refers to an asterism consisting of Xi Cephei, 4 Cephei, HD 194298, Eta Cephei, Theta Cephei, Alpha Cephei, 26 Cephei, Iota Cephei and Omicron Cephei. 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 Xi Cephei itself is (, ).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

Xi Cephei A is a double-lined

spectroscopic binary 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 ...

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 820 days and an

eccentricity Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to: * Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal" Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics * Off-Centre (geometry), center, in geometry * Eccentricity (g ...

of 0.5. The primary, component Aa, is a chemically peculiar

Am star An Am star or metallic-line star is a type of chemically peculiar star of spectral type A whose spectrum has strong and often variable absorption lines of metals such as zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. ...

with an

of +4.61. The spectroscopic secondary, component Ab, is an

F-type star In astronomy, stellar classification is the classification of stars based on their spectral characteristics. Electromagnetic radiation from the star is analyzed by splitting it with a prism or diffraction grating into a spectrum exhibiting the ...

. Eight

arcsecond A minute of arc, arcminute (abbreviated as arcmin), arc minute, or minute arc, denoted by the symbol , is a unit of angular measurement equal to of a degree. Since one degree is of a turn, or complete rotation, one arcminute is of a tu ...

s away from Xi Cephei A, Xi Cephei B is a 6th-magnitude

main sequence In astronomy, the main sequence is a classification of stars which appear on plots of stellar color index, color versus absolute magnitude, brightness as a continuous and distinctive band. Stars on this band are known as main-sequence stars or d ...

star. Xi Cephei C is a 13th magnitude star nearly two

arcminute A minute of arc, arcminute (abbreviated as arcmin), arc minute, or minute arc, denoted by the symbol , is a unit of angular measurement equal to of a degree. Since one degree is of a turn, or complete rotation, one arcminute is of a tu ...

s away. It has a small parallax and is an unrelated background star only accidentally in line with Xi Cephei.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Xi Cephei Cepheus (constellation) Cephei, Xi A-type main-sequence stars Kurhah Cephei, 17 209790 1 108917 BD+63 1802 8417 Spectroscopic binaries Am stars F-type main-sequence stars F-type subgiants Triple star systems