Astronomy:Omega Carinae

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Short description: Star in the constellation Carina
ω Carinae
Carina constellation map.svg
Red circle.svg
Location of ω Carinae (circled)
Observation data
Equinox J2000.0]] (ICRS)
Constellation Carina
Right ascension  10h 13m 44.21739s[1]
Declination –70° 02′ 16.4563″[1]
Apparent magnitude (V) 3.29[2]
Characteristics
Spectral type B8 IIIe[3]
U−B color index –0.285[4]
B−V color index –0.083[4]
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)+7.0[2] km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: -36.01[1] mas/yr
Dec.: +7.09[1] mas/yr
Parallax (π)9.54 ± 0.09[1] mas
Distance342 ± 3 ly
(104.8 ± 1.0 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)−1.81[5]
Details
Radius7.20±0.14[6] R
Luminosity918[7] L
Surface gravity (log g)3.51[7] cgs
Temperature11,630[7] K
Rotational velocity (v sin i)240[7] km/s
Other designations
ω Car, CD−69°1178, FK5 385, HD 89080, HIP 50099, HR 4037, SAO 250885[8]
Database references
SIMBADdata

Omega Carinae, Latinized from ω Carinae, is a star in the constellation Carina. With a declination greater than 70 degrees south of the celestial equator, it is the most southerly of the bright stars of Carina (third-magnitude or brighter), and it is part of a southern asterism known as the Diamond Cross. This star has an apparent visual magnitude of 3.3 and is located at a distance of about 342 light-years (105 parsecs) from Earth.

Properties

Omega Carinae has a stellar classification of B8 IIIe,[3] which places it in the category of Be stars, that display emission lines of hydrogen their spectrum. Omega Carinae is a shell star,[3] having a circumstellar disk of gas surrounding its equator. The luminosity class of III indicates it has evolved into a giant star, having exhausted the hydrogen at its core and left the main sequence. The effective temperature of 11,630 K[7] in its outer envelope is what gives this star the blue-white hue that is characteristic of B-type stars.

This star is rotating rapidly with a projected rotational velocity of 240 km/s,[7] which gives a lower limit to the star's azimuthal velocity along the equator. The critical equatorial velocity, at which the star would begin to break up, is 320 km s−1. The star's axis of rotation is inclined by an estimated angle of 70.8° to the line of sight from the Earth.[9]

In the next 7500 years, the south Celestial pole will pass close to this star (AD 5800) and then I Carinae.[10]

In culture

In Chinese, 南船 (Nán Chuán), meaning Southern Boat, refers to an asterism consisting of ω Carinae, V337 Carinae, PP Carinae, θ Carinae and β Carinae .[11] Consequently, ω Carinae itself is known as 南船四 (Nán Chuán sì, English: the Fourth Star of Southern Boat.)[12]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 van Leeuwen, F. (November 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 Wielen, R. et al. (1999), "Sixth Catalogue of Fundamental Stars (FK6). Part I. Basic fundamental stars with direct solutions", Veroeffentlichungen des Astronomischen Rechen-Instituts Heidelberg (Astronomisches Rechen-Institut Heidelberg) 35 (35): 1, Bibcode1999VeARI..35....1W 
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Rivinius, Th.; Štefl, S.; Baade, D. (November 2006), "Bright Be-shell stars", Astronomy and Astrophysics 459 (1): 137–145, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20053008, Bibcode2006A&A...459..137R 
  4. 4.0 4.1 Gutierrez-Moreno, Adelina; Moreno, Hugo (June 1968), "A photometric investigation of the Scorpio-Centaurus association", Astrophysical Journal Supplement 15: 459, doi:10.1086/190168, Bibcode1968ApJS...15..459G 
  5. Anderson, E.; Francis, Ch. (2012), "XHIP: An extended hipparcos compilation", Astronomy Letters 38 (5): 331, doi:10.1134/S1063773712050015, Bibcode2012AstL...38..331A 
  6. Arcos, C.; Kanaan, S.; Chávez, J.; Vanzi, L.; Araya, I.; Curé, M. (2018), "Stellar parameters and H α line profile variability of be stars in the BeSOS survey", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 474 (4): 5287, doi:10.1093/mnras/stx3075, Bibcode2018MNRAS.474.5287A 
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Zorec, J.; Frémat, Y.; Domiciano De Souza, A.; Royer, F.; Cidale, L.; Hubert, A. -M.; Semaan, T.; Martayan, C. et al. (2016), "Critical study of the distribution of rotational velocities of be stars. I. Deconvolution methods, effects due to gravity darkening, macroturbulence, and binarity", Astronomy and Astrophysics 595: A132, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201628760, Bibcode2016A&A...595A.132Z 
  8. "ome Car -- Be Star", SIMBAD (Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg), http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=omega+carinae, retrieved 2012-01-13 
  9. Frémat, Y. et al. (September 2005), "Effects of gravitational darkening on the determination of fundamental parameters in fast-rotating B-type stars", Astronomy and Astrophysics 440 (1): 305–320, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20042229, Bibcode2005A&A...440..305F 
  10. Kieron Taylor (2005), Precession, http://moonkmft.co.uk/Precession.html, retrieved 2020-01-19 
  11. (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.
  12. (in Chinese) AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) 天文教育資訊網 2006 年 7 月 28 日

External links