W Mensae

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W Mensae (W Men) is a variable star in the southern constellation Mensa. The star is classified as a yellow-white supergiant (spectral class F8 Iab).[1] W Mensae is very distant, being located in the neighboring galaxy Large Magellanic Cloud. Despite its great luminosity, the star has a maximum apparent brightness of +13.8m,[1] too dim to be visible even for a small telescope. It belongs to the very rare R Coronae Borealis class of variables[1] which are often called "inverse novae" since they experience once a while very large drops in brightness. W Mensae is not an exception, since at minimum its brightness is less than +18.3m.[1] The variability of the star was discovered in 1927 by W. J. Luyten.[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Samus, N. N.; Durlevich, O. V.; et al. (2004). Combined General Catalogue of Variable Stars (GCVS4.2). Retrieved on 2007-01-04.
  2. ^ Luyten, W. J. (1927). "A New Irregular Variable of the R Coronae Type". Harvard College Observatory Bulletin (846): 31–33. 1927BHarO.846...33L. 


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