Alpha Pavonis
| |
| Observation data Epoch J2000 Equinox J2000 | |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Pavo |
| Right ascension | 20h 25m 38.85705s[1] |
| Declination | −56° 44′ 06.3230″[1] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 1.94[2] |
| Characteristics | |
| Spectral type | B2 IV[3] |
| U−B color index | −0.71[2] |
| B−V color index | −0.20[2] |
| Astrometry | |
| Radial velocity (Rv) | +2.0[4] km/s |
| Proper motion (μ) | RA: 6.90[1] mas/yr Dec.: −86.02[1] mas/yr |
| Parallax (π) | 18.24 ± 0.52[1] mas |
| Distance | 179 ± 5 ly (55 ± 2 pc) |
| Details | |
| Mass | 6.3 ± 0.2[5] to 9.0 ± 0.1[6] M☉ |
| Radius | 4.5–5.6[7] R☉ |
| Luminosity | 2,200[5] L☉ |
| Surface gravity (log g) | 3.8[8] cgs |
| Temperature | 18,000[8] K |
| Rotational velocity (v sin i) | 39[8] km/s |
| Age | 0.2[9] to 30[6] Myr |
| Other designations | |
| Database references | |
| SIMBAD | data |
Peacock is a star in the southern constellation Pavo, near the shared border with the Telescopium constellation. Its name was assigned by Her Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office in the late 1930s during the creation of the Air Almanac, a navigational almanac for the Royal Air Force. Of the fifty-seven stars included in the new almanac, two had no classical names: Epsilon Carinae and Alpha Pavonis. The RAF insisted that all of the stars must have names, so new names were invented. Alpha Pavonis was named "Peacock" ('pavo' is Latin for 'peacock') whilst Epsilon Carinae was called "Avior".[10]
At an apparent magnitude of 1.94,[2] this is the brightest star in Pavo. Based upon parallax measurements, this star is about 179 light-years (55 parsecs) distant from the Earth.[1] It has an estimated six times the Sun's mass and 5–6 times the Sun's radius,[7] but 2,200 times the luminosity of the Sun.[5] However, Tetzlaff et al. (2011) suggest a much higher mass of 9 times the mass of the Sun.[9] The effective temperature of the photosphere is 18,000 K,[8] which gives the star a blue-white hue.[11] A stellar classification of B2 IV suggests it is a subgiant star that has begun to evolve from the main sequence with the exhaustion of the hydrogen at its core.
Stars with the mass of Peacock are believed not to have a convection zone near their surface. Hence the material found in the outer atmosphere is not processed by the nuclear fusion occurring at the core. This means that the surface abundance of elements should be representative of the material out of which it originally formed. In particular, the surface abundance of deuterium should not change during the star's main sequence lifetime. The measured ratio of deuterium to hydrogen in this star amounts to less than 5 × 10−6, which suggests this star may have formed in a region with an unusually low abundance of deuterium, or else the deuterium was consumed by some means. A possible scenario for the latter is that the deuterium was burned through while Peacock was a pre-main-sequence star.[8]
Peacock is a spectroscopic binary consisting of a pair of stars that orbit around each other with a period of 11.753 days.[8] However, in part because the two stars have not been individually resolved, little is known about the companion. The system may be a member of the Tucana-Horologium association of stars that share a common motion through space.[6] The estimated age of this association is 30 million years, which, as the members share a common origin, suggests a similar age for Alpha Pavonis.[12] However, Tetzlaff et al. (2011) suggest an age for this star of only 200,000 years. This star has a peculiar velocity of 13 km s−1 relative to its neighbors.[9]
Notes
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 van Leeuwen, F. (November 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.
- 1 2 3 4 Nicolet, B. (1978), "Photoelectric photometric Catalogue of homogeneous measurements in the UBV System", Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Series 34: 1–49, Bibcode:1978A&AS...34....1N
- 1 2 "PEACOCK -- Spectroscopic binary", SIMBAD (Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg), retrieved 2011-12-23
- ↑ Wilson, Ralph Elmer (1953), "General catalogue of stellar radial velocities", Washington (Carnegie Institution of Washington), Bibcode:1953QB901.W495.....
- 1 2 3 Jerzykiewicz, M.; Molenda-Zakowicz, J. (September 2000), "Empirical Luminosities and Radii of Early-Type Stars after Hipparcos", Acta Astronomica 50: 369–380, Bibcode:2000AcA....50..369J
- 1 2 3 Zuckerman, B.; Song, Inseok; Webb, R. A. (September 2001), "Tucana Association", The Astrophysical Journal 559 (1): 388–394, Bibcode:2001ApJ...559..388Z, doi:10.1086/322305
- 1 2 Pasinetti Fracassini, L. E.; et al. (February 2001), "Catalogue of Apparent Diameters and Absolute Radii of Stars (CADARS) - Third edition - Comments and statistics", Astronomy and Astrophysics 367 (2): 521–524, arXiv:astro-ph/0012289, Bibcode:2001A&A...367..521P, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20000451
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Vidal-Madjar, A.; et al. (August 1988), "Deuterium in early-type stars - The case of Alpha-Pavonis", Astronomy and Astrophysics 201 (2): 273–275, Bibcode:1988A&A...201..273V
- 1 2 3 Tetzlaff, N.; Neuhäuser, R.; Hohle, M. M. (January 2011), "A catalogue of young runaway Hipparcos stars within 3 kpc from the Sun", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 410 (1): 190–200, arXiv:1007.4883, Bibcode:2011MNRAS.410..190T, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.17434.x
- ↑ Sadler, D. H. (1993), A Personal History of H.M. Nautical Almanac Office (PDF), Edited and privately published by Wilkins, G. A., p. 48
- ↑ "The Colour of Stars", Australia Telescope, Outreach and Education (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), December 21, 2004, retrieved 2012-01-16
- ↑ da Silva, L.; et al. (December 2009), "Search for associations containing young stars (SACY). III. Ages and Li abundances", Astronomy and Astrophysics 508 (2): 833–839, arXiv:0909.0677, Bibcode:2009A&A...508..833D, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/200911736
References
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