Astronomy:Psi Centauri
| Observation data Equinox J2000.0]] (ICRS) | |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Centaurus |
| Right ascension | 14h 20m 33.43s[1] |
| Declination | −37° 53′ 07.1″[1] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | +4.05[2] |
| Characteristics | |
| Spectral type | A0 IV[3] (B9 and A2)[4] |
| U−B color index | −0.11[3] |
| B−V color index | −0.03[3] |
| Variable type | eclipsing[4] |
| Astrometry | |
| Radial velocity (Rv) | 1.8±0.9[5] km/s |
| Proper motion (μ) | RA: −63.69±0.18[1] mas/yr Dec.: −10.65±0.15[1] mas/yr |
| Parallax (π) | 13.049 ± 0.063[6] mas |
| Distance | 250.0±1.2 ly (76.64±0.37 pc) |
| Absolute magnitude (MV) | −0.35±0.14[7] |
| Orbit[6] | |
| Period (P) | 38.8121(2) d |
| Semi-major axis (a) | 0.3874±0.0017 |
| Eccentricity (e) | 0.550±0.001 |
| Inclination (i) | 89.20±0.13° |
| Longitude of the node (Ω) | 115.79±0.10° |
| Argument of periastron (ω) (secondary) | 19.45±0.27° |
| Semi-amplitude (K1) (primary) | 49.51±0.16 km/s |
| Semi-amplitude (K2) (secondary) | 80.48±0.33 km/s |
| Details[6] | |
| ψ Cen A | |
| Mass | 3.187±0.031 M☉ |
| Radius | 3.814±0.007 R☉ |
| Luminosity | 140+17 −15 L☉ |
| Surface gravity (log g) | 3.811±0.003[8] cgs |
| Temperature | 10,450±300 K |
| Metallicity [Fe/H] | +0.05±0.10 dex |
| Rotation | 1.49±0.26 d[4] |
| Rotational velocity (v sin i) | 123.7[8] km/s |
| Age | 280±10 Myr |
| ψ Cen B | |
| Mass | 1.961±0.015 M☉ |
| Radius | 1.896±0.004 R☉ |
| Luminosity | 17.5+2.6 −2.2 L☉ |
| Surface gravity (log g) | 4.206±0.007[8] cgs |
| Temperature | 8,800±300 K |
| Metallicity [Fe/H] | +0.05±0.10 dex |
| Rotational velocity (v sin i) | 126.9[8] km/s |
| Age | 280±10 Myr |
| Other designations | |
| Database references | |
| SIMBAD | data |
Psi Centauri, which is Latinized from ψ Centauri, is a binary star[10] system in the southern constellation of Centaurus. It is visible to the naked eye with a baseline apparent visual magnitude of +4.05.[2] The distance to this system is 250 light years based on parallax.[6] The radial velocity is poorly constrained, but it appears to be slowly drifting away from the Sun at the rate of +2 km/s.[5]

This is a detached eclipsing binary system with the secondary eclipse being total.[4] The pair are orbiting each other with a period of 38.81 days and an eccentricity of 0.55.[6]The brightness of the system dips by 0.28 and 0.16 magnitude during the two eclipses per orbit.[4] The system displays an infrared excess at a wavelength of 60 μm, indicating the presence of a circumstellar debris disk with a temperature of 120 K, orbiting at a distance of 64 AU.[11]
The pair have a combined stellar classification of A0 IV,[3] matching a white-hued A-type subgiant.[2] The two components appear to be at different evolutionary stages.[4] Both have high rotation rates, with projected rotational velocities over 120 km/s.[8] The primary has 3.814 times the Sun's radius while the secondary is 1.896 times.[6] The primary showed evidence of pulsational behavior with 1.996 and 5.127 cycles per day,[4] which suggests it is a slowly pulsating B star.[8] But this remains unconfirmed as of 2017,[12] and the finding may instead be the result of instrumental error.[8]
References
- ↑ 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, Bibcode: 2007A&A...474..653V. Vizier catalog entry
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Johnson, H. L. et al. (1966), "UBVRIJKL photometry of the bright stars", Communications of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory 4 (99): 99, Bibcode: 1966CoLPL...4...99J.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Buscombe, W. (1962), "Spectral classification of Southern fundamental stars", Mount Stromlo Observatory Mimeogram 4: 1, Bibcode: 1962MtSOM...4....1B.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Bruntt, H. et al. (September 2006), "Eclipsing binaries observed with the WIRE satellite. I. Discovery and photometric analysis of the new bright A0 IV eclipsing binary ψ Centauri", Astronomy and Astrophysics 456 (2): 651–658, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20065628, Bibcode: 2006A&A...456..651B.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Gontcharov, G. A. (November 2006), "Pulkovo Compilation of Radial Velocities for 35495 Hipparcos stars in a common system", Astronomy Letters 32 (11): 759–771, doi:10.1134/S1063773706110065, Bibcode: 2006AstL...32..759G.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Gallenne, A.; Pietrzyński, G.; Graczyk, D.; Pilecki, B.; Storm, J.; Nardetto, N.; Taormina, M.; Gieren, W. et al., "The Araucaria project: High-precision orbital parallax and masses of eclipsing binaries from infrared interferometry" (in en-gb), Astronomy & Astrophysics 632: A31, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201935837, ISSN 0004-6361, Bibcode: 2019A&A...632A..31G.
- ↑ Gerbaldi, M. et al. (June 1999), "Search for reference A0 dwarf stars: Masses and luminosities revisited with HIPPARCOS parallaxes", Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement 137 (2): 273–292, doi:10.1051/aas:1999248, Bibcode: 1999A&AS..137..273G.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 Mantegazza, L. et al. (March 2010), "Spectroscopic search for g-mode pulsations in ψ Centauri", Astronomy and Astrophysics 512: 5, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/200913013, A42, Bibcode: 2010A&A...512A..42M.
- ↑ "psi Cen". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-basic?Ident=psi+Cen.
- ↑ 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, Bibcode: 2008MNRAS.389..869E.
- ↑ Rhee, Joseph H. et al. (May 2007), "Characterization of Dusty Debris Disks: The IRAS and Hipparcos Catalogs", The Astrophysical Journal 660 (2): 1556–1571, doi:10.1086/509912, Bibcode: 2007ApJ...660.1556R.
- ↑ Liakos, Alexios; Niarchos, Panagiotis (February 2017), "Catalogue and properties of δ Scuti stars in binaries", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 465 (1): 1181–1200, doi:10.1093/mnras/stw2756, Bibcode: 2017MNRAS.465.1181L.
