Astronomy:Psi Scorpii

From HandWiki
Short description: White-hued star in the constellation Scorpius
ψ Scorpii
Observation data
Equinox J2000.0]] (ICRS)
Constellation Scorpius
Right ascension  16h 12m 00.01043s[1]
Declination −10° 03′ 50.8353″[1]
Apparent magnitude (V) 4.94[2]
Characteristics
Spectral type A1 V[3]
U−B color index +0.11[2]
B−V color index +0.09[2]
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)−5.10[4] km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: −18.000[1] mas/yr
Dec.: −36.188[1] mas/yr
Parallax (π)20.1801 ± 0.2617[1] mas
Distance162 ± 2 ly
(49.6 ± 0.6 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)+1.55[5]
Orbit[6]
Period (P)10 years
Semi-major axis (a)6.4 au
Details[6]
ψ Sco A
Mass1.95 M
Radius2.1 R
Luminosity18.6[7] L
Surface gravity (log g)4.134±0.071[8] cgs
Temperature8,350 K
Rotational velocity (v sin i)42.3±0.6[9] km/s
Age630 Myr
ψ Sco B
Mass0.64 M
Radius0.60 R
Temperature4,200 K
Age630 Myr
Other designations
ψ Sco, 15 Scorpii, BD−09°4324, FK5 3280, GC 21780, HD 145570, HIP 79375, HR 6031, SAO 141022[10]
Database references
SIMBADdata

Psi Scorpii, which is Latinized from ψ Scorpii, is a binary star in the zodiac constellation of Scorpius. It is white in hue and has an apparent visual magnitude of 4.94,[2] which is bright enough to be faintly visible to the naked eye. Based upon parallax measurements,[1] it is located at a distance of around 162 light years from the Sun. The system is drifting closer to the Sun with a radial velocity of −5 km/s.[4]

Characteristics

Data collected during the Hipparcos mission suggested it is an astrometric binary.[11] The companion was directly detected in 2025, with the GRAVITY instrument at VLTI. The astrometric data is consistent with an orbital period of 10 years, suggesting a separation of 3.4 astronomical units.[6]

The primary component is an A-type main sequence star with a stellar classification of A1 V;[3] a class of star that is still fusing hydrogen at its core. It has around 1.95 the mass and 2.1 times the radius of the Sun,[6] and is shining with 18.6 times the Sun's luminosity.[7] The effective temperature of the star's outer atmosphere is 8,350 K. Psi Scorpii A is around 630 million years old[6] and is spinning with a projected rotational velocity of 42.3 km/s.[12]

The secondary is has around 0.64 times the mass, 0.6 times the radius and a temperature of 4,200 K. It is 6.7 magnitudes fainter than the primary.[6]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Brown, A. G. A. (August 2018). "Gaia Data Release 2: Summary of the contents and survey properties". Astronomy & Astrophysics 616: A1. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201833051. Bibcode2018A&A...616A...1G.  Gaia DR2 record for this source at VizieR.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Hoffleit, Dorrit; Jaschek, Carlos (1991), "The Bright star catalogue", New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Observatory, 5th Rev.ed., Bibcode1991bsc..book.....H. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 Houk, N.; Swift, C. (1999), "Michigan catalogue of two-dimensional spectral types for the HD Stars, Vol. 5", Michigan Spectral Survey 5, Bibcode1999MSS...C05....0H. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 Gontcharov, G. A. (November 2006), "Pulkovo Compilation of Radial Velocities for 35 495 Hipparcos stars in a common system", Astronomy Letters 32 (11): 759–771, doi:10.1134/S1063773706110065, Bibcode2006AstL...32..759G. 
  5. Anderson, E.; Francis, Ch. (2012), "XHIP: An extended hipparcos compilation", Astronomy Letters 38 (5): 331, doi:10.1134/S1063773712050015, Bibcode2012AstL...38..331A. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Waisberg, Idel; Klein, Ygal; Katz, Boaz (2025-10-07), "Hidden Companions to Intermediate-mass Stars. Upgraded Multiplicity 1 → 2. XXXI. Discovery of a 0.64M , 3.4 au Companion to Psi Scorpii", Research Notes of the AAS 9 (10): 260, doi:10.3847/2515-5172/ae0e62, ISSN 2515-5172 .
  7. 7.0 7.1 McDonald, I. et al. (2012), "Fundamental Parameters and Infrared Excesses of Hipparcos Stars", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 427 (1): 343–57, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.21873.x, Bibcode2012MNRAS.427..343M. 
  8. Stassun, Keivan G.; Oelkers, Ryan J.; Paegert, Martin; Torres, Guillermo; Pepper, Joshua; De Lee, Nathan; Collins, Kevin; Latham, David W. et al. (2019-10-01), "The Revised TESS Input Catalog and Candidate Target List", The Astronomical Journal 158 (4): 138, doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ab3467, ISSN 0004-6256, Bibcode2019AJ....158..138S.  Psi Scorpii's database entry at VizieR.
  9. Díaz, C. G. et al. (July 2011), "Accurate stellar rotational velocities using the Fourier transform of the cross correlation maximum", Astronomy & Astrophysics 531: A143, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201016386, Bibcode2011A&A...531A.143D. 
  10. "psi Sco -- Star", SIMBAD Astronomical Database (Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg), http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/sim-id.pl?protocol=html&Ident=Psi+Sco, retrieved 2016-09-24. 
  11. Frankowski, A. et al. (March 2007), "Proper-motion binaries in the Hipparcos catalogue. Comparison with radial velocity data", Astronomy and Astrophysics 464 (1): 377–392, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20065526, Bibcode2007A&A...464..377F. 
  12. David, Trevor J.; Hillenbrand, Lynne A. (2015), "The Ages of Early-Type Stars: Strömgren Photometric Methods Calibrated, Validated, Tested, and Applied to Hosts and Prospective Hosts of Directly Imaged Exoplanets", The Astrophysical Journal 804 (2): 146, doi:10.1088/0004-637X/804/2/146, Bibcode2015ApJ...804..146D.