HD 5408

HD 5408
Location of HD 5408 (circled)
Observation data
Epoch J2000      Equinox ICRS
Constellation Cassiopeia[1]
AB
Right ascension 00h 56m 46.972s[2]
Declination +60° 21′ 46.22″[2]
Apparent magnitude (V) 5.57[3]
Characteristics
Aa
Spectral type B7V[4]
Ab1
Spectral type B9IV[5] or B9V[4]
Ab2
Spectral type A7V[4]
AB
Spectral type B7V[4]
UCAC4 752-011208
Spectral type M4Ve[6]
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)−8.70±0.2[7] km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: +26.13[2] mas/yr
Dec.: −3.79[2] mas/yr
Parallax (π)6.06±0.41 mas[2]
Distance540 ± 40 ly
(170 ± 10 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)−0.52[1]
Orbit[8]
PrimaryAB
NameUCAC4 752-011208
Semi-major axis (a)62.21″
Orbit[4]
PrimaryA
NameB
Period (P)84.10±0.84 yr
Semi-major axis (a)0.237±0.006
Eccentricity (e)0.225±0.010
Inclination (i)53.6±0.9°
Longitude of the node (Ω)171.5±0.9°
Periastron epoch (T)1953.59±0.83
Argument of periastron (ω)
(secondary)
343.5±3.6°
Semi-amplitude (K1)
(primary)
4.30 km/s
Orbit[5]
PrimaryAa
NameAb
Period (P)4.899±0.038 yr
Semi-major axis (a)0.0309±0.0012
Eccentricity (e)0.260±0.017
Inclination (i)47.3±3.2°
Longitude of the node (Ω)146.8±2.5°
Periastron epoch (T)2003.565±0.038
Argument of periastron (ω)
(secondary)
279.2±2.9°
Semi-amplitude (K1)
(primary)
11.18±0.24 km/s
Orbit[9]
PrimaryAb1
NameAb2
Period (P)4.241146±0.000008 d
Eccentricity (e)0.415±0.003
Inclination (i)63[4]°
Longitude of the node (Ω)205.073±0.025°
Periastron epoch (T)HJD 2445971.576±0.007
Argument of periastron (ω)
(secondary)
72.8±0.6°
Semi-amplitude (K1)
(primary)
82.8±0.3 km/s
Semi-amplitude (K2)
(secondary)
123.7±1.0 km/s
Details
Aa
Mass3.39[5] M
Ab1
Mass2.44[5] M
Ab2
Mass1.64[5] M
B
Mass3.39[5] M
Age360[9] Myr
UCAC4 752-011208
Mass0.58[8] M
Other designations
AG+60°107, BD+59°146, GC 1120, HD 5408, HIP 4440, HR 266, SAO 11484, PPM 12601, ADS 784 AB, CCDM J00568+6022AB, WDS J00568+6022AB, TIC 51961599, 2MASS J00564697+6021463[10]
Database references
SIMBADdata

HD 5408 is a multiple star system in the northern constellation of Cassiopeia. It consists of a pair of stars only 237 mas apart, the primary consisting of three even closer stars, as well as an additional component located 60″ away. With a combined apparent magnitude of 5.57, it is faintly visible to the naked eye under dark skies, although it lies only 21′ from the 2nd-magnitude γ Cassiopeiae and may be bound to it. The system is located approximately 540 light-years (170 pc) distant according to parallax measurements by Hipparcos. It is trending closer towards the Solar System at a heliocentric radial velocity of −8.7 km/s.

Designations

Its name, HD 5408, denotes that it is the 5,408th object in the Henry Draper Catalogue, included within the first volume published in 1918.[11] Alternate designations include HR 266 and HIP 4440. It is listed multiple star catalogues as ADS 784, CCDM J00568+6022, and WDS J00568+6022.[10] It is also catalogued as component D of γ Cassiopeiae, which lies at approximately the same distance and separated by about a parsec.[5]

Properties

The two resolved stars appear with apparent magnitudes 6.12 and 6.57 respectively. The secondary is a massive B9V star and orbits the triple system once every 83 years in a moderately eccentric orbit.[5] The tertiary is a 16th magnitude M4Ve red dwarf.[6]

The most massive of the inner stars, Aa orbits the other two, Ab1 and Ab2, once every four years in a moderately eccentric orbit. The inner pair complete a more eccentric orbit every four days.[4] The orbits are approximately coplanar.[9]

The masses of four of the stars have been determined from their orbital configuration, with Aa, Ab1, Ab2, and B having masses of 3.39 M, 2.44 M, 1.64 M, and 3.39 M respectively. The other properties, even the individual spectral types, are poorly known. Some assumptions constrained by the orbital masses lead to the spectral types of B7V, B9IV, A7V, and B7V for the four stars, [4] although the eccentric inner pairing of a subgiant and main sequence star is unexpected as the orbit would be expected to become near-circular within the age of the stars.[9] The spectral class of component Ab1 has alternatively been considered to be B9V,[4] although the overall spectral class for the four stars is accepted as being B9IV.[5]

A more distant companion star, UCAC4 752-011208, was found with Gaia data,[8] although it was known to have a similar distance and proper motion since 2018.[6] The system as a whole is thought to be part of the γ Cassiopeiae association, which contains over 140 stars within of HD 5408 and γ Cas.[12]

Multiple star catalogues report a faint star, component C, 21″ away, possibly itself a double, but the Gaia astrometry indicates that it is not related to HD 5408[5] and more likely is a background binary of two red dwarfs.[13][14]

One of the system components is a mercury-manganese star, a chemically peculiar star with unusually strong spectral lines of mercury and manganese.[15] These are usually slowly-rotating late B-type main sequence stars. A spectral type of B9V HgMn has been reported for the primary component of the innermost binary.[9]

Observational history

In 1899, astronomer Sherburne Wesley Burnham discovered that HD 5408 was a close double, the two stars being only 0.2″ apart.[16][9]

Radial velocity variations were reported from HD 5408 by various observers, together with conflicting spectroscopic classifications, including a possible mercury-manganese star and a fast rotator. The anomalies were eventually resolved as indicating a hierarchical multiple system with an inner period of 4.2 days, an intermediate orbit of 1,769 days, and an outer orbit of about 84 years, but it was unclear which of the two visible stars was the multiple.[9]

Further analysis of the motions of the visible stars, resolution of component A into two stars, and speckle interferometry of the system led to component A being considered to be a somewhat unusual triple system with the outer star being the most massive, but one of the inner stars possibly being more evolved. In this arrangement, components Aa and B were both equally massive and bright.[4]

In 2024, an X-ray flare lasting over an hour was observed from close to the position of HD 5408, although it is not certain that it originated from this system.[17]

References

  1. ^ a b Anderson, E.; Francis, Ch. (2012). "XHIP: An extended hipparcos compilation". Astronomy Letters. 38 (5): 331. arXiv:1108.4971. Bibcode:2012AstL...38..331A. doi:10.1134/S1063773712050015. XHIP record for this object at VizieR.
  2. ^ a b c d e van Leeuwen, F. (2007). "Validation of the new Hipparcos reduction". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 474 (2): 653–664. arXiv:0708.1752. Bibcode:2007A&A...474..653V. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20078357. ISSN 0004-6361.
  3. ^ Høg, E.; Fabricius, C.; Makarov, V. V.; Urban, S.; Corbin, T.; Wycoff, G.; Bastian, U.; Schwekendiek, P.; Wicenec, A. (2000). "The Tycho-2 catalogue of the 2.5 million brightest stars". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 355. Bibcode:2000A&A...355L..27H.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Tokovinin, A. (2021). "Inner and Outer Orbits in 13 Resolved Hierarchical Stellar Systems". The Astronomical Journal. 161 (3): 144. arXiv:2101.02976. Bibcode:2021AJ....161..144T. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/abda42.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Tokovinin, Andrei (2018). "The Updated Multiple Star Catalog". The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 235 (1): 6. arXiv:1712.04750. Bibcode:2018ApJS..235....6T. doi:10.3847/1538-4365/aaa1a5.
  6. ^ a b c Nessi, R.; et al. (October 2018). "AGB Candidates in the Field of γ Cas". Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica. 54: 341–354. arXiv:1805.09191. Bibcode:2018RMxAA..54..341N. doi:10.48550/arXiv.1805.09191.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  7. ^ Pourbaix, D.; Tokovinin, A. A.; Batten, A. H.; Fekel, F. C.; Hartkopf, W. I.; Levato, H.; Morrell, N. I.; Torres, G.; Udry, S. (2004). "SB9: The ninth catalogue of spectroscopic binary orbits". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 424: 727. arXiv:astro-ph/0406573. Bibcode:2004A&A...424..727P. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20041213.
  8. ^ a b c Kervella, P.; Arenou, F.; Thevenin, F. (2022). "Stellar and substellar companions from Gaia EDR3. Proper-motion anomaly and resolved common proper-motion pairs". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 657. arXiv:2109.10912. Bibcode:2022A&A...657A...7K. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202142146. Record for this source at VizieR.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Cole, Warren A.; Fekel, Francis C.; Hartkopf, William I.; McAlister, Harold A.; Tomkin, Jocelyn (1992). "HR 266=ADS 784: An Early Type Spectroscopic, Speckle Astrometric Multiple System". The Astronomical Journal. 103: 1357. Bibcode:1992AJ....103.1357C. doi:10.1086/116149.
  10. ^ a b "HD 5408". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2026-04-02.
  11. ^ Cannon, Annie J.; Pickering, Edward C. (1918). "The Henry Draper Catalogue 0h, 1h, 2h, and 3h". Annals of Harvard College Observatory. 91: 1–290. Bibcode:1918AnHar..91....1C.
  12. ^ González-Payo, J.; et al. (2023). "Reaching the boundary between stellar kinematic groups and very wide binaries IV. The widest Washington Double Star systems with ρ ≥ 1000 arcsec in Gaia DR3". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 670. arXiv:2301.01722. Bibcode:2023A&A...670A.102G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202245476.
  13. ^ Vallenari, A.; et al. (Gaia collaboration) (2023). "Gaia Data Release 3. Summary of the content and survey properties". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 674: A1. arXiv:2208.00211. Bibcode:2023A&A...674A...1G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202243940. S2CID 244398875. Gaia DR3 record for this source at VizieR.
  14. ^ Vallenari, A.; et al. (Gaia collaboration) (2023). "Gaia Data Release 3. Summary of the content and survey properties". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 674: A1. arXiv:2208.00211. Bibcode:2023A&A...674A...1G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202243940. S2CID 244398875. Gaia DR3 record for this source at VizieR.
  15. ^ González, J. F.; Nuñez, N. E.; Saffe, C.; Alejo, A. D.; Veramendi, M. E.; Collado, A. (2021). "Discovery of new mercury-manganese stars, including a fast rotator". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 502 (3): 3670. Bibcode:2021MNRAS.502.3670G. doi:10.1093/mnras/staa3401. hdl:11336/148312.
  16. ^ Burnham, Sherburne Wesley (1906). A General Catalogue of Double Stars Within 121 ̊of the North Pole. Carnegie Institution. Retrieved 2026-04-02.
  17. ^ Nagashima, N.; Kanemaru, Y.; Yoshida, T.; Fukushima, K.; Hayashi, K.; Ogawa, S.; Audard, M.; Behar, E.; Inoue, S.; Ishihara, Y.; Kohmura, T.; Maeda, Y.; Mizumoto, M.; Nobukawa, M.; Pottschmidt, K.; Shidatsu, M.; Sugai, H.; Terada, Y.; Terashima, Y.; Tsuboi, Y.; Uchida, H.; Yanagi, T.; Yoneyama, T.; Yoshimoto, M. (2024). "XRISM/Xtend Transient Search (XTS) detected an X-ray flare from XRISM J0057+6021". The Astronomer's Telegram. 16962: 1. Bibcode:2024ATel16962....1N.