Astronomy:Epsilon Capricorni
| Observation data Equinox J2000.0]] (ICRS) | |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Capricornus[1] |
| Right ascension | 21h 37m 04.83068s[2] |
| Declination | −19° 27′ 57.6464″[2] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | +4.62[3] |
| Characteristics | |
| Spectral type | B2.5 Vpe[4] |
| U−B color index | −0.64[3] |
| B−V color index | −0.19[3] |
| Variable type | γ Cas[5] |
| Astrometry | |
| Proper motion (μ) | RA: +12.79[2] mas/yr Dec.: +0.28[2] mas/yr |
| Parallax (π) | 3.09 ± 0.18[2] mas |
| Distance | 1,060 ± 60 ly (320 ± 20 pc) |
| Absolute magnitude (MV) | −3.03[1] |
| Details | |
| ε Cap A | |
| Mass | 7.6[6] M☉ |
| Radius | 4.80[6] R☉ |
| Luminosity | 4,649[1] L☉ |
| Surface gravity (log g) | 4.0[6] cgs |
| Temperature | 18,800[6] K |
| Metallicity [Fe/H] | −0.08[1] dex |
| Rotational velocity (v sin i) | 225[7] km/s |
| Age | 27.5±4.2[8] Myr |
| Other designations | |
| Database references | |
| SIMBAD | data |
Epsilon Capricorni is a binary star system[11] in the constellation Capricornus. It has the traditional star name Kastra, meaning "fort" or "military camp" in Latin; Epsilon Capricorni is the Bayer designation, which is Latinized from ε Capricorni and abbreviated Epsilon Cap or ε Cap. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 3.09 mas as seen from the Earth,[2] the star is located about 1,060 light years from the Sun. It can be seen with the naked eye, having a combined apparent visual magnitude of 4.62.[3]
In Chinese, 壘壁陣 (Lěi Bì Zhèn), meaning Line of Ramparts, refers to an asterism consisting of ε Capricorni, κ Capricorni, γ Capricorni, δ Capricorni, ι Aquarii, σ Aquarii, λ Aquarii, φ Aquarii, 27 Piscium, 29 Piscium, 33 Piscium and 30 Piscium.[12] Consequently, the Chinese name for ε Capricorni itself is 壘壁陣二 (Lěi Bì Zhèn èr, English: the Second Star of Line of Ramparts.)[13]
Observations

In 2006, this was reported as a single-lined spectroscopic binary with an orbital period of 128.5 days. It was confirmed in 2023.[11] The primary, component Aa, is a Be star that is surrounded by ionized gas that is producing the emission lines in the spectrum. This circumstellar shell is inclined by 80° to the line of sight from the Earth.[6] The system is undergoing both short term and long term variations in luminosity, with the short period variations showing a phase cycle of 1.03 days.[5] It is classified as a Gamma Cassiopeiae variable with an amplitude of 0.16 in magnitude.[5]
Epsilon Capricorni Aa is a blue-white hued B-type main sequence star with a stellar classification of B2.5 Vpe[4] and a visual magnitude of +4.62.[3] It has 7.6 times the mass of the Sun and 4.8 times the Sun's radius.[6] The star is spinning rapidly, with a projected rotational velocity of 225 km/s. This is giving it an oblate shape with an equatorial bulge that is 7% larger than the polar radius.[7]
The system has two visual companions. Component B is a visual magnitude 10.11 star at an angular separation of 65.8 arc seconds along a position angle of 46°, as of 2013. Component C with visual magnitude of 14.1 lies at an angular separation of 62.7 arc seconds along a position angle of 164°, as of 1999.[15] Both stars are likely to be unrelated and at different distances to Epsilon Capricorni.[16]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Anderson, E.; Francis, Ch. (2012). "XHIP: An extended hipparcos compilation". Astronomy Letters 38 (5): 331. doi:10.1134/S1063773712050015. Bibcode: 2012AstL...38..331A XHIP record for this object at VizieR.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 van Leeuwen, F. (2007), "Validation of the new Hipparcos reduction", Astronomy and Astrophysics 474 (2): 653–664, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20078357, Bibcode: 2007A&A...474..653V.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Feinstein, A.; Marraco, H. G. (November 1979), "The photometric behavior of Be Stars", Astronomical Journal 84: 1713–1725, doi:10.1086/112600, Bibcode: 1979AJ.....84.1713F.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Adelman, S. J. et al. (December 2000), "On the Variability of O4-B5 Luminosity Class III-V Stars", Information Bulletin on Variable Stars 5008 (5008): 1, Bibcode: 2000IBVS.5008....1A.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Balona, L. A. (December 2002), "Short period spectral variability in the Be stars I: eta Centauri and epsilon Capricorni", The Journal of Astronomical Data 8: 1, Bibcode: 2002JAD.....8....1B.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Silaj, J. et al. (November 2014), "The Hα Profiles of Be Shell Stars", The Astrophysical Journal 795 (1): 12, doi:10.1088/0004-637X/795/1/82, 82, Bibcode: 2014ApJ...795...82S.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Belle, G. T. (2012), "Interferometric observations of rapidly rotating stars", The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review 20 (1), doi:10.1007/s00159-012-0051-2, Bibcode: 2012A&ARv..20...51V.
- ↑ Tetzlaff, N. et al. (January 2011), "A catalogue of young runaway Hipparcos stars within 3 kpc from the Sun", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 410 (1): 190–200, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.17434.x, Bibcode: 2011MNRAS.410..190T.
- ↑ 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, Bibcode: 2004yCat.4027....0K.
- ↑ "del Cap". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-basic?Ident=del+Cap.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Klement, Robert et al. (February 2024), "The CHARA Array Interferometric Program on the Multiplicity of Classical Be Stars: New Detections and Orbits of Stripped Subdwarf Companions" (in en), The Astrophysical Journal 962 (1): 70, doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad13ec, ISSN 0004-637X, Bibcode: 2024ApJ...962...70K.
- ↑ (in Chinese) 中國星座神話, written by 陳久金. Published by 台灣書房出版有限公司, 2005, ISBN 978-986-7332-25-7.
- ↑ (in Chinese) AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) 天文教育資訊網 2006 年 7 月 7 日
- ↑ Lefèvre, L. et al. (November 2009), "A systematic study of variability among OB-stars based on HIPPARCOS photometry", Astronomy and Astrophysics 507 (2): 1141–1201, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/200912304, Bibcode: 2009A&A...507.1141L, https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/pdf/2009/44/aa12304-09.pdf, retrieved 29 July 2022.
- ↑ Mason, B. D. et al. (2014), "The Washington Visual Double Star Catalog", The Astronomical Journal 122 (6): 3466, doi:10.1086/323920, Bibcode: 2001AJ....122.3466M, http://vizier.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/VizieR?-source=B/wds, retrieved 2015-07-22
- ↑ 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.
External links
- eps Cap, American Association of Variable Star Observers, https://www.aavso.org/vsx/index.php?view=detail.top&oid=5752, retrieved 2017-05-17.
- Kaler, James B. (October 9, 2015), "Epsilon Capricorni", Stars (University of Illinois), http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/epscap.html, retrieved 2017-05-17.
de:Castra
