Pi Cephei

π Cephei
Location of π Cephei (circled in red)
Observation data
Epoch J2000      Equinox J2000
Constellation Cepheus[1]
Right ascension 23h 07m 53.854s[2]
Declination +75° 23′ 15.00″[2]
Apparent magnitude (V) 4.419[3] (4.61[4] + 6.75[5])
Characteristics
Spectral type G7III[6] + F5V[6] + A7V-A9V[7]
U−B color index −0.46
B−V color index +0.8
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)−27.33±0.01[8] km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: +6.81±1.05 mas/yr[2]
Dec.: −34.06±0.88 mas/yr[2]
Parallax (π)13.8±0.41 mas[7]
Distance236 ± 7 ly
(72 ± 2 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)0.24
Orbit[6]
Primaryπ Cep Aa
Nameπ Cep Ab
Period (P)556.72±0.05 d
Semi-major axis (a)39.0±3.9 mas[7]
Eccentricity (e)0.297±0.006
Inclination (i)99.0±2.5[7]°
Longitude of the node (Ω)109.2±3.5[7]°
Periastron epoch (T)2,439,172.9±1.6
Argument of periastron (ω)
(secondary)
7.6±1.2°
Semi-amplitude (K1)
(primary)
24.18±0.15 km/s
Orbit[9]
Primaryπ Cephei A (Aa + Ab)
Nameπ Cephei B
Period (P)162.8±2.8 yr
Semi-major axis (a)0.810±0.050
Eccentricity (e)0.5968±0.0067
Inclination (i)30.0±3.0°
Longitude of the node (Ω)90.3±4.9°
Periastron epoch (T)B 1934.573±0.35
Argument of periastron (ω)
(secondary)
90.0±4.4°
Details[7]
π Cep Aa
Mass3.63±0.53 M
Surface gravity (log g)3.05±0.11[10] cgs
Temperature5,226±92[10] K
Metallicity [Fe/H]0.29±0.05[10] dex
Age100[10] Myr
π Cep Ab
Mass3.27±0.48 M
π Cep B
Mass1.93±0.23 M
Other designations
π Cep, 33 Cephei, BD+74°1006, GC 32237, HD 218658, HIP 114222, HR 8819, SAO 10629, WDS J23079+7523AB[11]
Database references
SIMBADdata
Pi Cep A
Pi Cep B

Pi Cephei is a trinary star system located in the northern constellation Cepheus.[7] Its name is a Bayer designation that is Latinized from π Cephei, and abbreviated Pi Cep or π Cep. With a combined apparent magnitude of about 4.4,[3] the system is faintly visible to the naked eye. It is located at a distance of approximately 236 light-years (72 pc) from the Earth.

Pi Cephei was found to have a visual companion star by Otto Wilhelm von Struve in 1843.[7] The brighter member is itself a spectroscopic binary, which was first noticed by William Wallace Campbell in 1901 using photographic plates taken at Lick Observatory.[12] The inner pair of stars orbit with a period of 1.5 years while the outer companion completes an orbit in about 160 years.[7]

The primary component has a stellar classification of G7III,[6] presenting as an aging G-type giant star. At the age of 100 million years,[10] it has an estimated 3–4 times the mass of the Sun.[7] The lower mass components have classes of F5V[6] and A7V-A9V,[7] thus appearing to be main sequence stars.

References

  1. ^ 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 van Leeuwen, F. (2007). "Validation of the new Hipparcos reduction". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 474 (2): 653–664. arXiv:0708.1752. Bibcode:2007A&A...474..653V. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20078357. S2CID 18759600. Vizier catalog entry
  3. ^ a b Hauck, B.; Mermilliod, M. (1998). "Uvbybeta photoelectric photometric catalogue". Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement. 129 (3): 431–433. Bibcode:1998A&AS..129..431H. doi:10.1051/aas:1998195.Vizier catalog entry
  4. ^ Høg, E.; et al. (2000). "The Tycho-2 catalogue of the 2.5 million brightest stars". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 355: L27. Bibcode:2000A&A...355L..27H.
  5. ^ Fabricius, C.; et al. (2002). "The Tycho double star catalogue". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 384: 180–189. Bibcode:2002A&A...384..180F. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20011822.
  6. ^ a b c d e Scarfe, C. D.; et al. (1983). "Revised orbits for 105 Herculis and Pi Cephei A and a model for the Pi Cephei system". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 203: 103–116. Bibcode:1983MNRAS.203..103S. doi:10.1093/mnras/203.1.103.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Gatewood, George; et al. (2001). "Hipparcos and MAP Studies of the Triple Star π Cephei". The Astrophysical Journal. 549 (2): 1145–1150. Bibcode:2001ApJ...549.1145G. doi:10.1086/319458.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ "Sixth Catalog of Orbits of Visual Binary Stars". United States Naval Observatory. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  10. ^ a b c d e Feuillet, Diane K.; et al. (2016). "Determining Ages of APOGEE Giants with Known Distances". The Astrophysical Journal. 817 (1): 40. arXiv:1511.04088. Bibcode:2016ApJ...817...40F. doi:10.3847/0004-637X/817/1/40. S2CID 118675933.
  11. ^ "* pi. Cep". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2013-09-01.
  12. ^ Campbell, William Wallace (1901). "Some recent results secured with the Mills spectrograph". Lick Observatory Bulletin. 1 (4): 22–25. Bibcode:1901LicOB...1...22C. doi:10.5479/ADS/bib/1901LicOB.1.22C.