 A visual band light curve for Epsilon Cephei, adapted from Bruntt et al. (2007) | |
| Observation data Epoch J2000.0 Equinox J2000.0 (ICRS) | |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Cepheus |
| Right ascension | 22 15 02.19530 |
| Declination | +57° 02′ 36.8771″ |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 4.15 - 4.21 |
| Characteristics | |
| Spectral type | F0 V (Sr II) or F0 IV |
| U−B color index | +0.073 |
| B−V color index | +0.277 |
| Variable type | δ Sct |
| Astrometry | |
| Radial velocity (Rv) | −4.7±0.8 km/s |
| Proper motion (μ) | RA: +481.53 mas/yr Dec.: +46.04 mas/yr |
| Parallax (π) | 38.17 ± 0.97 mas |
| Distance | 85 ± 2 ly (26.2 ± 0.7 pc) |
| Absolute magnitude (MV) | +2.13 |
| Details | |
| ε Cep Aa | |
| Mass | 1.64 M☉ |
| Radius | 1.86 R☉ |
| Luminosity | 11.65 L☉ |
| Surface gravity (log g) | 4.11±0.14 cgs |
| Temperature | 7,514±255 K |
| Metallicity | +0.08 dex |
| Rotational velocity (v sin i) | 91 km/s |
| Age | 1.097 Gyr |
| ε Cep Ab | |
| Mass | 0.57 M☉ |
| Other designations | |
| ε Cephei, 23 Cephei, BD+56 2741, HD 211336, HIP 109857, HR 8494, SAO 34227 | |
| Database references | |
| SIMBAD | data |
Epsilon Cephei, Latinized from ε Cephei, is a star in the northern constellation of Cepheus. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 38.17 mas as seen from the Earth, it is located about 85 light years from the Sun. The star is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 4.18.
Properties
Physical Characteristics
This is a yellow-white hued, F-type star with a stellar classification of F0 V (Sr II) or F0 IV. Thus it may either be an F-type main sequence star showing an abundance excess of strontium, or it could be a more evolved subgiant star. It is a Delta Scuti variable star that cycles between magnitudes 4.15 and 4.21 every 59.388 minutes. The star displays an infrared excess, indicating the presence of a debris disk with a temperature of 65 K orbiting at a radius of 62 AU. This dust has a combined mass equal to 6.6% of the Earth's mass.
Binary
There is a faint companion star at an angular separation of 330±50 mas along a position angle of 90°±10°. This corresponds to a projected physical separation of 8.6±1.4 AU. The probability of a random star being situated this close to Epsilon Cephei is about one in a million, so it is most likely physically associated. If so, then the debris disk is probably circumbinary. The fact that this companion was not detected during the Hipparcos mission may indicate its orbit has a high eccentricity. The companion star has a K-band magnitude of 7.8 and is probably of class K8–M2.
Naming
In Chinese, 螣蛇 (Téng Shé), meaning Flying Serpent, refers to an asterism consisting of ε Cephei, α Lacertae, 4 Lacertae, π Cygni, π Cygni, HD 206267, β Lacertae, σ Cassiopeiae, ρ Cassiopeiae, τ Cassiopeiae, AR Cassiopeiae, 9 Lacertae, 3 Andromedae, 7 Andromedae, 8 Andromedae, λ Andromedae, κ Andromedae, ι Andromedae, and ψ Andromedae. Consequently, the Chinese name for ε Cephei itself is 螣蛇九 (Téng Shé jiǔ, English: the Ninth Star of Flying Serpent)
References
- Bruntt, H.; Suárez, J. C.; Bedding, T. R.; Buzasi, D. L.; Moya, A.; Amado, P. J.; Martín-Ruiz, S.; Garrido, R.; López de Coca, P.; Rolland, A.; Costa, V.; Olivares, I.; García-Pelayo, J. M. (January 2007), "Asteroseismology with the WIRE satellite I. Combining ground- and space-based photometry of the δ Scuti star ɛ Cephei", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 461 (2): 619–630, arXiv:astro-ph/0610539, Bibcode:2007A&A...461..619B, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20065766.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "eps Cep", AAVSO Website, American Association of Variable Star Observers, retrieved 2017-05-07.
- ^ Gray, R. O.; et al. (2001), "The Physical Basis of Luminosity Classification in the Late A-, F-, and Early G-Type Stars. I. Precise Spectral Types for 372 Stars", The Astronomical Journal, 121 (4): 2148–2158, Bibcode:2001AJ....121.2148G, doi:10.1086/319956.
- ^ Mawet, D.; et al. (September 2011), "A Dim Candidate Companion to epsilon Cephei", The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 738 (1): 5, arXiv:1107.3872, Bibcode:2011ApJ...738L..12M, doi:10.1088/2041-8205/738/1/L12, S2CID 37505271, L12.
- ^ Breger, M. (March 1968), "UBV and narrow-band UVBY photometry of bright stars", Astronomical Journal, 73: 84–85, Bibcode:1968AJ.....73...84B, doi:10.1086/110602.
- Gontcharov, G. A. (2006), "Pulkovo Compilation of Radial Velocities for 35 495 Hipparcos stars in a common system", Astronomy Letters, 32 (11): 759–771, arXiv:1606.08053, Bibcode:2006AstL...32..759G, doi:10.1134/S1063773706110065, S2CID 119231169
- ^ 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, S2CID 119257644.
- ^ 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, arXiv:1501.03154, Bibcode:2015ApJ...804..146D, doi:10.1088/0004-637X/804/2/146, S2CID 33401607.
- ^ Rhee, Joseph H.; et al. (May 2007), "Characterization of Dusty Debris Disks: The IRAS and Hipparcos Catalogs", The Astrophysical Journal, 660 (2): 1556–1571, arXiv:astro-ph/0609555, Bibcode:2007ApJ...660.1556R, doi:10.1086/509912, S2CID 11879505.
- Royer, F.; et al. (February 2007), "Rotational velocities of A-type stars. III. Velocity distributions", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 463 (2): 671–682, arXiv:astro-ph/0610785, Bibcode:2007A&A...463..671R, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20065224, S2CID 18475298.
- De Rosa, R. J.; Patience, J.; Wilson, P. A.; Schneider, A.; Wiktorowicz, S. J.; Vigan, A.; Marois, C.; Song, I.; MacIntosh, B.; Graham, J. R.; Doyon, R.; Bessell, M. S.; Thomas, S.; Lai, O. (2013), "The VAST Survey - III. The multiplicity of A-type stars within 75 pc", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 437 (2): 1216, arXiv:1311.7141, Bibcode:2014MNRAS.437.1216D, doi:10.1093/mnras/stt1932.
- "eps Cep -- Variable Star of delta Sct type", SIMBAD Astronomical Database, Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg, retrieved 2017-05-06.
- (in Chinese) AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) 天文教育資訊網 2006 年 7 月 7 日 Archived 2011-05-21 at the Wayback Machine
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