Beta Aurigae

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β Aurigae
Location of β Aurigae (circled)
Observation data
J2000.0
Constellation Auriga
Right ascension 05h 59m 31.72293s[1]
Declination +44° 56′ 50.7573″[1]
Apparent magnitude (V) 1.89 - 1.98[2]
Characteristics
Spectral type A1m IV + A1m IV[3]
U−B color index +0.05[4]
B−V color index +0.03[4]
R−I color index –0.01
Variable type
Algol variable[2]
Distance
81.1 ± 0.5 ly
(24.9 ± 0.1 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)0.55/0.76[6]
Semi-amplitude
(K1)
(primary)		108.053 ± 0.072 km/s
Semi-amplitude (K2)
(secondary)		110.911 ± 0.071 km/s
Details
β Aur Aa
Rotational velocity (v sin i)
34[8] km/s
HR 2088, SAO 40750.[9]
Database references
SIMBADdata

Beta Aurigae (Latinized from β Aurigae, abbreviated Beta Aur, β Aur), officially named Menkalinan

Capella. Using the parallax measurements made during the Hipparcos mission, the distance to this star system can be estimated as 81.1 light-years (24.9 parsecs), give or take a half-light-year margin of error.[1]

Along their respective orbits around the Milky Way, Beta Aurigae and the Sun are closing in on each other, so that in around one million years it will become the brightest star in the night sky.[13]

Nomenclature

computers at the Harvard College Observatory; on the wall is a graph of β Aurigae's varying brightness in December 1889.

β Aurigae is the star system's Bayer designation. The traditional name Menkalinan is derived from the Arabic منكب ذي العنان mankib ðī-l-‘inān "shoulder of the rein-holder". In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN)[14] to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN's first bulletin of July 2016[15]

included a table of the first two batches of names approved by the WGSN; which included Menkalinan for this star.

It is known as 五車三 (the Third Star of the Five Chariots) in traditional Chinese astronomy.

Properties

A light curve for Beta Aurigae, plotted from data published by Southworth et al. (2007)[3]

Beta Aurigae is a binary star system, but it appears as a single star in the night sky. The two stars are

spectroscopic binary; the combined apparent magnitude varies over a period of 3.96 days between +1.89 and +1.94, as every 47.5 hours one of the stars partially eclipses the other from Earth's perspective.[16] The two stars are designated Aa and Ab in modern catalogues,[17][18] but have also been referred to as components 1 and 2 or A and B.[7][8]

There is an 11th magnitude optical companion with a separation of 187

″ as of 2011, but increasing. It is also an A-class subgiant, but is an unrelated background star.[17]

At an

Ursa Major Moving Group.[20]

See also

References

  1. ^
    S2CID 18759600
  2. ^
    S2CID 125853869
  3. ^
    S2CID 16446042
  4. ^
    Bibcode:1966CoLPL...4...99J
  5. Bibcode:1953GCRV..C......0W
  6. ^
    S2CID 14006009
  7. ^
    S2CID 119099887
  8. ^
    Bibcode:1994A&A...291..777N
  9. ^ "bet Aur". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2012-07-18.
  10. ISBN 978-1-931559-44-7
    .
  11. ^ "IAU Catalog of Star Names". Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  12. S2CID 14878976
  13. HIPPARCOS data. (The calculations exclude stars whose distance or proper motion is uncertain.) PDF[permanent dead link
    ]
  14. ^ "IAU Working Group on Star Names (WGSN)". Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  15. ^ "Bulletin of the IAU Working Group on Star Names, No. 1" (PDF). Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  16. hdl:10995/73280
  17. ^
    doi:10.1086/323920
  18. doi:10.1093/mnras/stz3616
  19. S2CID 84181878
  20. Bibcode:1979A&A....77..214G

External links
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