Astronomy:Gamma Eridani

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Short description: Variable star in the constellation Eridanus
γ Eridani
Location of γ Eridani (circled)
Observation data
Epoch J2000.0   Equinox (celestial coordinates)
Constellation Eridanus
Right ascension  03h 58m 01.76695s[1]
Declination −13° 30′ 30.6698″[1]
Apparent magnitude (V) 2.88 - 2.96[2]
Characteristics
Evolutionary stage AGB[3]
Spectral type M0III-IIIb[4]
U−B color index +1.96[5]
B−V color index +1.58[5]
Variable type Lb?[2]
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)60.81±0.25[6] km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: +61.57[1] mas/yr
Dec.: −113.11[1] mas/yr
Parallax (π)17.0016 ± 0.2254[7] mas
Distance192 ± 3 ly
(58.8 ± 0.8 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)−1.19[8]
Details
Mass1.55[9] M
Radius58.7±0.8[10] R
Luminosity634.2±28.6[10] L
Surface gravity (log g)1.52[10] cgs
Temperature3,779±34[10] K
Metallicity [Fe/H]+0.00[10] dex
Rotational velocity (v sin i)3.8[6] km/s
Other designations
Zaurak, γ Eri, 34 Eri, BD−13 781, HD 25025, HIP 18543, HR 1231, SAO 149283[11]
Database references
SIMBADdata

Gamma Eridani (γ Eridani, abbreviated Gamma Eri, γ Eri), formally named Zaurak /ˈzɔːræk/,[12][13] is a variable star in the constellation of Eridanus. It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude that varies around 2.9, and lies at a distance of about 203 light years from the Sun, as determined by the Hipparcos astrometry satellite.

Description

A light curve for Gama Eridani, plotted from Hipparcos data[14]

Gamma Eridani has been defined as a standard star for the spectral class M0III-IIIb.[4] It is a red giant on the asymptotic giant branch, fusing hydrogen and helium in separate shells outside its core.[3] Observations published in 1960 showed it to vary in brightness by a few hundredths of a magnitude.[15] In 1977, it was officially listed as a variable star in the General Catalogue of Variable Stars although the class of variable is uncertain.[16]

The Gaia EDR3 data identified a comoving 0.1 M companion star of Gamma Eridani, at a projected separation of 1000 AU. It is likely that there is an additional red dwarf companion that at a distance within 50 AU, too close to resolve from the primary.[17]

Nomenclature

Gamma Eridani is the star's Bayer designation. It has the traditional name Zaurak, alternatively spelled Zaurac, which is one of the Arabic words for 'boat'.[18] In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN)[19] to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN's first bulletin of July 2016[20] included a table of the first two batches of names approved by the WGSN; which included Zaurak for this star.

In Chinese, 天苑 (Tiān Yuàn), meaning Celestial Meadows, refers to an asterism consisting of γ Eridani, δ Eridani, π Eridani, ε Eridani, ζ Eridani, η Eridani, π Ceti, τ1 Eridani, τ2 Eridani, τ3 Eridani, τ4 Eridani, τ5 Eridani, τ6 Eridani, τ7 Eridani, τ8 Eridani and τ9 Eridani.[21] Consequently, the Chinese name for γ Eridani itself is 天苑一 (Tiān Yuàn yī, English: the First [Star] of Celestial Meadows.)[22]

USS Zaurak (AK-117) was a United States Navy Crater class cargo ship named after the star.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 van Leeuwen, F. (2007), "Validation of the new Hipparcos reduction", Astronomy and Astrophysics 474 (2): 653–664, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20078357, Bibcode2007A&A...474..653V. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 Samus, N. N.; Durlevich, O. V. et al. (2007), Combined General Catalogue of Variable Stars (GCVS4.2), http://www.sai.msu.su/gcvs/gcvs/.  VizieR On-line Data Catalog: B/gcvs.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Eggen, O. J. (1992), "Asymptotic giant branch stars near the sun", The Astronomical Journal 104: 275, doi:10.1086/116239, Bibcode1992AJ....104..275E. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 Keenan, P.; McNeil, R. (October 1989), "The Perkins catalog of revised MK types for the cooler stars", Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series 71: 245–266, doi:10.1086/191373, Bibcode1989ApJS...71..245K. 
  5. 5.0 5.1 Mermilliod, J.-C. (1986), "Compilation of Eggen's UBV data, transformed to UBV (unpublished)", Catalogue of Eggen's UBV Data (SIMBAD), Bibcode1986EgUBV........0M. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 Massarotti, Alessandro et al. (January 2008), "Rotational and radial velocities for a sample of 761 HIPPARCOS giants and the role of binarity", The Astronomical Journal 135 (1): 209–231, doi:10.1088/0004-6256/135/1/209, Bibcode2008AJ....135..209M. 
  7. Brown, A. G. A. (2021). "Gaia Early Data Release 3: Summary of the contents and survey properties". Astronomy & Astrophysics 649: A1. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202039657. Bibcode2021A&A...649A...1G.  Gaia EDR3 record for this source at VizieR.
  8. Cardini, D. (January 2005), "Mg II chromospheric radiative loss rates in cool active and quiet stars", Astronomy and Astrophysics 430: 303–311, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20041440, Bibcode2005A&A...430..303C. 
  9. Ayres, Thomas (2023-05-01), "In the Trenches of the Solar-Stellar Connection. VII. Wilson-Bappu 2022", The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series 266 (1): 6, doi:10.3847/1538-4365/acb535, ISSN 0067-0049, Bibcode2023ApJS..266....6A  Gamma Eridani's database entry at VizieR.
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 Baines, Ellyn K.; Thomas Armstrong, J.; Clark, James H.; Gorney, Jim; Hutter, Donald J.; Jorgensen, Anders M.; Kyte, Casey; Mozurkewich, David et al. (November 2021), "Angular Diameters and Fundamental Parameters of Forty-four Stars from the Navy Precision Optical Interferometer", The Astronomical Journal 162 (5): 198, doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ac2431, ISSN 0004-6256, Bibcode2021AJ....162..198B. 
  11. "* gam Eri". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-basic?Ident=%2A+gam+Eri. 
  12. Kunitzsch, Paul; Smart, Tim (2006), A Dictionary of Modern star Names: A Short Guide to 254 Star Names and Their Derivations (2nd rev. ed.), Cambridge, Massachusetts: Sky Pub, ISBN 978-1-931559-44-7. 
  13. IAU Catalog of Star Names, http://www.pas.rochester.edu/~emamajek/WGSN/IAU-CSN.txt, retrieved 28 July 2016. 
  14. Hipparcos Tools Interactive Data Access, ESA, https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/hipparcos/interactive-data-access, retrieved 8 December 2021. 
  15. Cousins, A. W. J. (1960), "New Bright Variable Stars", Monthly Notes of the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa 19: 56, Bibcode1960MNSSA..19...56C. 
  16. Kukarkin, B. V.; Kholopov, P. N.; Fedorovich, V. P.; Kireyeva, N. N.; Kukarkina, N. P.; Medvedeva, G. I.; Perova, N. B. (1977), "62nd Name-List of Variable Stars", Information Bulletin on Variable Stars 1248: 1, Bibcode1977IBVS.1248....1K. 
  17. Kervella, Pierre; Arenou, Frédéric; Thévenin, Frédéric (April 2024). "Stellar and substellar companions from Gaia EDR3: Proper-motion anomaly and resolved common proper-motion pairs (Corrigendum)". Astronomy & Astrophysics 684: C2. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202450066e. Bibcode2024A&A...684C...2K. 
  18. Allen, R. H. (1963), Star Names, Dover, p. 218, https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Topics/astronomy/_Texts/secondary/ALLSTA/Eridanus*.html, retrieved 2016-10-09. 
  19. IAU Working Group on Star Names (WGSN), IAU, https://www.iau.org/science/scientific_bodies/working_groups/280/, retrieved 2016-05-22 
  20. Bulletin of the IAU Working Group on Star Names, No. 1, http://www.pas.rochester.edu/~emamajek/WGSN/WGSN_bulletin1.pdf, retrieved 2016-07-28. 
  21. (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.
  22. (in Chinese) 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.