Zeta Cancri
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| Observation data Epoch J2000.0 |
|
|---|---|
| Constellation (pronunciation) |
Cancer |
| Right ascension | 08h12m12.7s |
| Declination | +17°38′52″ |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | +5.58/+5.99/+6.12 |
| Distance | 83.4 ± 2.9 ly (25.6 ± 0.9 pc) |
| Spectral type | F7V+F9V+G0V |
| Other designations | |
Zeta Cancri (ζ Cnc / ζ Cancri) is a star system in the constellation Cancer containing at least four stars. It also has the traditional name Tegmine, Tegmen, or Tegmeni. The star system is approximately 83.4 light years from Earth, and has a combined apparent magnitude of +4.67.
Since ζ Cancri is near the ecliptic, it can be occulted by the Moon and very rarely by planets.
The ζ Cancri system contains two binary pairs, ζ¹ Cancri and ζ² Cancri, which are 5.06 arcseconds apart. These two binary stars orbit around their common centre of mass once every 1100 years.
ζ Cancri can be resolved as a double star in small telescopes. The double nature of ζ Cancri was discovered in 1756 by Johann Tobias Mayer. Its was discovered to be a triple star in 1781 by William Herschel when he resolved the two components that make up ζ¹ Cancri. As early as 1831, John Herschel noticed perturbations in ζ² Cancri's orbit around ζ¹ Cancri. This lead Otto Wilhelm von Struve, in 1871, to postulate a fourth, unseen, component which orbited closely the visible member of ζ² Cancri.[1] Recent observations have resolved this fourth component and have indicated that there may be one or two more unobserved components.[2][3]
The components of ζ¹ Cancri are denoted ζ Cancri A and ζ Cancri B. They are both yellow-white main sequence dwarfs of spectral class F. The apparent magnitude the two stars are +5.58 and +5.99, respectively. The two stars are separated, as of 2005, by 0.8 arcseconds, requiring a large telescope to resolve them, but this separation will increase until the year 2020. They complete one orbit every 59.3 years.
The components of ζ² Cancri are denoted ζ Cancri C and ζ Cancri D. ζ Cancri C is the brighter of the pair, having an apparent magnitude of +6.12. It appears to be a yellow G-type star, often reported as G5V, but now thought to be earlier, probably G0V. The tenth magnitude ζ Cancri D has the color of a red dwarf, and may in fact be a close pair of two red dwarves. The separation between C and D is approximately 0.3 arcseconds, and their orbital period is 17 years.
[edit] Identification
Considerable confusion has developed concerning the catalogue identities of the three bright stars. Correct correspondences were worked out by Griffin[1]:
| Component | HR | HD | SAO | HIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ζ Cancri A | 3208 | 68257 | 97645 | 40167 |
| ζ Cancri B | 3209 | 68256 | ||
| ζ Cancri C | 3210 | 68255 | 97646 |
[edit] References
- ^ a b Griffin, R.F. (2000). "Spectroscopic Binary Orbits from Photoelectrical Radial Velocities: Paper 150: ζ Cancri C". The Observatory 120: 1–47.
- ^ Hutchings, J. B., Griffin, R. F.; Menard, F. (2000). "Direct observation of the fourth star in the Zeta Cancri system" (abstract). Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac. 112: 833–836. doi:.
- ^ Richichi, A. (2000). "An Investigation of the multiple star Zet Cnc by a lunar occultation". Astron. Astroph. 364: 225–231.
