Astronomy:Butterfly Star
280px The Butterfly Star imaged by the James Webb Space Telescope | |
| Observation data Equinox J2000.0]] (ICRS) | |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Taurus[1] |
| Right ascension | 04h 33m 16.50096s[2] |
| Declination | +22° 53′ 20.4000″[2] |
| Characteristics | |
| Evolutionary stage | young stellar object |
| Apparent magnitude (J) | 14.682±0.059[2] |
| Apparent magnitude (H) | 12.900±0.060[2] |
| Apparent magnitude (K) | 11.718±0.048[2] |
| Astrometry | |
| Radial velocity (Rv) | 832.2±0.2[2] km/s |
| Distance | ~520 ly (~160 pc) |
| Details | |
| Mass | 1.6±0.4[3] M☉ |
| Other designations | |
| Database references | |
| SIMBAD | data |
The Butterfly Star, often called by its designation IRAS 04302+2247, is a young stellar object in the constellation Taurus, near the dark nebula LDN 1536b[4] in the Taurus molecular cloud. Classified as a class I protostar, it is surrounded by an edge-on protoplanetary disk and a bipolar reflection nebula that resembles the wings of a butterfly; the star itself is obscured by the disk.[5]
.jpg)
This object was first catalogued in 1990 by the IRAS satellite.[6] Its discovery was announced in 1997, when it was nicknamed the "Butterfly star in Taurus" due to the appearance of its surrounding nebula.[7][8] The name Butterfly Star has been used in subsequent studies[9] and was officially approved by the IAU Working Group on Star Names on 13 June 2026.[1]
The Butterfly Star's circumstellar disk is seen nearly edge-on, with an inclination of 87° to the plane of the sky. The gas disk has a radius of 3.9″ (620 au), while the dust disk is smaller with a radius of 310 au.[3] An inner, potentially planet-forming region of the disk is within ≲80–120 au.[10] The disk is thought to have a total mass of 0.07 M☉.[4] The central star is likely a T Tauri star.[4]
See also
- List of resolved circumstellar disks
- Flying Saucer, another edge-on protoplanetary disk
- HH 30, another edge-on protoplanetary disk
- Tau 042021, another edge-on protoplanetary disk
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "IAU Catalog of Star Names". https://exopla.net/star-names/modern-iau-star-names/.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 "IRAS 04302+2247". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-basic?Ident=IRAS+04302%2B2247.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lin, Zhe-Yu Daniel; Li, Zhi-Yun et al. (July 2023). "Early Planet Formation in Embedded Disks (eDisk). II. Limited Dust Settling and Prominent Snow Surfaces in the Edge-on Class I Disk IRAS 04302+2247". The Astrophysical Journal 951 (1): 9. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/acd5c9. ISSN 0004-637X. Bibcode: 2023ApJ...951....9L.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Wolf, Sebastian; Padgett, Deborah L.; Stapelfeldt, Karl R. (May 2003). "The Circumstellar Disk of the Butterfly Star in Taurus" (in en). The Astrophysical Journal 588 (1): 373–386. doi:10.1086/374041. ISSN 0004-637X. Bibcode: 2003ApJ...588..373W.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Dusty wisps round a dusty disc". 29 August 2025. https://esawebb.org/images/potm2508a/.
- ↑ Kenyon, Scott J.; Hartmann, Lee W. et al. (March 1990). "An IRAS survey of the Taurus-Auriga molecular cloud". The Astronomical Journal 99: 869. doi:10.1086/115380. Bibcode: 1990AJ.....99..869K.
- ↑ Lucas, Philip; Roche, Patrick F. (February 1997). "IRAS 04302+2247: Butterfly star in Taurus!". The seventh astrophysical conference: Star formation, near and far. 393. pp. 125–128. doi:10.1063/1.52737. Bibcode: 1997AIPC..393..125L.
- ↑ Lucas, P. W.; Roche, P. F. (April 1997). "Butterfly star in Taurus: structures of young stellar objects" (in en). Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 286 (4): 895–919. doi:10.1093/mnras/286.4.895. ISSN 0035-8711. Bibcode: 1997MNRAS.286..895L.
- ↑ Gräfe, C.; Wolf, S. et al. (May 2013). "Vertical settling and radial segregation of large dust grains in the circumstellar disk of the Butterfly Star". Astronomy & Astrophysics 553: A69. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201220720. ISSN 0004-6361. Bibcode: 2013A&A...553A..69G.
- ↑ Wolf, S.; Schegerer, A. et al. (February 2008). "Submillimeter Structure of the Disk of the Butterfly Star" (in en). The Astrophysical Journal 674 (2): L101–L104. doi:10.1086/529188. ISSN 0004-637X. Bibcode: 2008ApJ...674L.101W.
Further reading
- Lucas, P. W.; Roche, P. F. (September 1998). "Further observations of IRAS 04302+2247" (in en). Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 299 (3): 723–727. doi:10.1046/j.1365-8711.1998.01798.x. ISSN 0035-8711. Bibcode: 1998MNRAS.299..723L.
- Podio, L.; Garufi, A. et al. (October 2020). "ALMA chemical survey of disk-outflow sources in Taurus (ALMA-DOT): II. Vertical stratification of CO, CS, CN, H2CO, and CH3OH in a Class I disk". Astronomy & Astrophysics 642: L7. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202038952. ISSN 0004-6361. Bibcode: 2020A&A...642L...7P.
 |  |
