Astronomy:11 Ursae Minoris

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Short description: Star in the constellation Ursa Minor
11 Ursae Minoris
Location of 11 Ursae Minoris (invisible beside γ Ursae Minoris at this scale)
Observation data
Equinox J2000.0]] (ICRS)
Constellation Ursa Minor
Right ascension  15h 17m 05.88946s[1]
Declination +71° 49′ 26.0473″[1]
Apparent magnitude (V) 5.15[2]
Characteristics
Spectral type K4 III[3]
Apparent magnitude (B) 6.664[2]
Apparent magnitude (J) 2.657[2]
Apparent magnitude (H) 1.931±0.192[2]
Apparent magnitude (K) 1.701±0.198[2]
B−V color index 1.514±0.004[2]
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)−17.80±0.12[1] km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: +4.073[1] mas/yr
Dec.: +9.477[1] mas/yr
Parallax (π)7.9260 ± 0.1249[1] mas
Distance412 ± 6 ly
(126 ± 2 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)−0.37[4]
Details
Mass2.60+0.48
−0.44
[5] M
Radius29.14±0.45[5] R
Luminosity250±6[6] L
Habitable zone inner limit15.63±0.57[5] AU
Habitable zone outer limit30.65±1.10[5] AU
Surface gravity (log g)1.78±0.04[6] cgs
Temperature4,253±25[6] K
Metallicity−0.02±0.05[6]
Age639+507
−278
[5] Myr
Other designations
Pherkad Minor, 11 UMi, BD+72°678, HD 136726, HIP 74793, HR 5714, SAO 8207, PPM 8870[7]
Database references
SIMBADdata
Exoplanet ArchiveUMi data
Extrasolar Planets
Encyclopaedia
data

11 Ursae Minoris, formally named Pherkad Minor, is a single[8] star located approximately 410 light-years away[1] in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. The star is visible to the naked eye as a faint, orange-hued star with an apparent visual magnitude of 5.15.[2] It is moving closer to the Earth with a heliocentric radial velocity of −17.8 km/s.[1]

Nomenclature

11 Ursae Minoris is the star's Flamsteed designation. It is sometimes named Pherkad Minor (alternatively spelled Pherkard), in reference to the brighter nearby star Pherkad (Major) which is γ Ursae Minoris.[9] The name originated with Giuseppe Piazzi.[10] It has also been designated as γ1 Ursae Minoris, in which case the brighter Pherkad is called γ2 Ursae Minoris, but these names are rarely used.[9] The IAU Working Group on Star Names approved the name Pherkad Minor for 11 Ursae Minoris on 22 March 2026 and it is now so entered in the IAU Catalog of Star Names.[10]

Stellar properties

This is an aging K-type giant star with a stellar classification of K4 III.[3] It is 600 million years old with twice the mass of the Sun. As a consequence of exhausting the hydrogen at its core, the star has expanded to 29 times the Sun's radius.[5] It is radiating 250 times the luminosity of the Sun from its swollen photosphere at an effective temperature of 4,253 K.[6]

Planetary system

11 Ursae Minoris has a detected planet discovered in August 2009.[4] 11 Ursae Minoris b was discovered during a radial velocity survey of 62 K type red giant stars using the 2m Alfred Jensch telescope of the Thuringian State Observatory in Germany.[4]

A newer mass measurement of the host star implies a larger planetary mass of 14.15±1.23 MJ, which would make 11 Ursae Minoris b a low-mass brown dwarf.[5]

The 11 Ursae Minoris planetary system[4]
Companion
(in order from star)
Mass Semimajor axis
(AU)
Orbital period
(days)
Eccentricity Inclination Radius
b ≥14.15±1.23 MJ 1.54 ± 0.07 516.22 ± 3.25 0.08 ± 0.03

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Vallenari, A. et al. (2022). "Gaia Data Release 3. Summary of the content and survey properties". Astronomy & Astrophysics. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202243940  Gaia DR3 record for this source at VizieR.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Anderson, E.; Francis, Ch. (2012). "XHIP: An extended hipparcos compilation". Astronomy Letters 38 (5): 331. doi:10.1134/S1063773712050015. Bibcode2012AstL...38..331A. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 Baines, Ellyn K. et al. (2018). "Fundamental Parameters of 87 Stars from the Navy Precision Optical Interferometer". The Astronomical Journal 155 (1): 30. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/aa9d8b. Bibcode2018AJ....155...30B. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Döllinger, P. et al. (2009). "Planetary companions around the K giant stars 11 Ursae Minoris and HD 32518". Astronomy and Astrophysics 505 (3): 1311–1317. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/200911702. Bibcode2009A&A...505.1311D. http://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2009/39/aa11702-09/aa11702-09.html. 
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Baines, Ellyn K.; Jones, Jeremy; Clark, James H.; Schmitt, Henrique R.; Stone, Jordan M. (January 2025). "Eighteen Exoplanet Host Stars from the NPOI Data Archive" (in en). The Astronomical Journal 169 (2): 83. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ad9bb1. ISSN 1538-3881. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Soubiran, C.; Creevey, O.; Lagarde, N.; Brouillet, N.; Jofré, P.; Casamiquela, L.; Heiter, U.; Aguilera–Gómez, C. et al. (February 2024). "Gaia FGK benchmark stars: Fundamental Teff and log ɡ of the third version (Corrigendum)". Astronomy & Astrophysics 693: C3. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202453050e. ISSN 0004-6361. 
  7. "11 UMi". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-basic?Ident=11+UMi. 
  8. Eggleton, P. P.; Tokovinin, A. A. (September 2008), "A catalogue of multiplicity among bright stellar systems", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 389 (2): 869–879, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.13596.x, Bibcode2008MNRAS.389..869E. 
  9. 9.0 9.1 Kostjuk, N. D. (2004). "VizieR Online Data Catalog: HD-DM-GC-HR-HIP-Bayer-Flamsteed Cross Index (Kostjuk, 2002)". VizieR On-line Data Catalog: IV/27A. Originally Published in: Institute of Astronomy of Russian Academy of Sciences (2002) 4027. Bibcode2004yCat.4027....0K. 
  10. 10.0 10.1 "IAU Catalog of Star Names". https://exopla.net/star-names/modern-iau-star-names/. 

Coordinates: Sky map 15h 17m 05.8886s, +71° 49′ 26.044″