Taygeta is a
double star
In observational astronomy, a double star or visual double is a pair of stars that appear close to each other as viewed from Earth, especially with the aid of optical telescopes.
This occurs because the pair either forms a binary star (i.e. a ...
in the
constellation
A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object.
The first constellati ...
of
Taurus
Taurus is Latin for 'bull' and may refer to:
* Taurus (astrology), the astrological sign
** Vṛṣabha, in vedic astrology
* Taurus (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac
* Taurus (mythology), one of two Greek mythological ch ...
and a member of the
Pleiades
The Pleiades (), also known as Seven Sisters and Messier 45 (M45), is an Asterism (astronomy), asterism of an open cluster, open star cluster containing young Stellar classification#Class B, B-type stars in the northwest of the constellation Tau ...
open star cluster
An open cluster is a type of star cluster made of tens to a few thousand stars that were formed from the same giant molecular cloud and have roughly the same age. More than 1,100 open clusters have been discovered within the Milky Way galaxy, and ...
(M45).
It consists of a
binary pair designated 19 Tauri A together with a single star visual companion, 19 Tauri B. 'A's' two components are themselves designated 19 Tauri Aa (officially named Taygeta ,
[ the traditional name for the entire system)]parallax
Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different sightline, lines of sight and is measured by the angle or half-angle of inclination between those two lines. Due to perspective (graphica ...
measurements obtained during the Hipparcos
''Hipparcos'' was a scientific satellite of the European Space Agency (ESA), launched in 1989 and operated until 1993. It was the first space experiment devoted to precision astrometry, the accurate measurement of the positions and distances of ...
mission, Taygeta is approximately 410 light-years
A light-year, alternatively spelled light year (ly or lyr), is a unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equal to exactly , which is approximately 9.46 trillion km or 5.88 trillion mi. As defined by the International Astro ...
from the Sun
The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...
.
Nomenclature
''19 Tauri'' is the system's Flamsteed designation
A Flamsteed designation is a combination of a number and constellation name that uniquely identifies most naked eye stars in the 88 modern constellations, modern constellations visible from southern England. They are named after John Flamsteed, au ...
. It also bears the little-used Bayer designation
A Bayer designation is a stellar designation in which a specific star is identified by a Greek alphabet, Greek or Latin letter followed by the genitive case, genitive form of its parent constellation's Latin name. The original list of Bayer design ...
''q Tauri''. The designations of the two constituents as ''19 Tauri A'' and ''B'', and those of ''A's'' components - ''19 Tauri Aa'' and ''Ab'' - derive from the convention used by the Washington Multiplicity Catalog (WMC) for multiple star system
A star system or stellar system is a small number of stars that orbit each other, bound by gravitational attraction. It may sometimes be used to refer to a single star. A large group of stars bound by gravitation is generally called a ''st ...
s, and adopted by the International Astronomical Union
The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...
(IAU).Taygete
In Classical Greek mythology, Taygete , , ) was a nymph, one of the Pleiades according to the '' Bibliotheca'' (3.10.1) and a companion of Artemis, in her archaic role as '' potnia theron'', "Mistress of the animals", with its likely roots in pr ...
was one of the Pleiades sisters in Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...
. In 2016, the IAU organized a Working Group on Star Names
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) established a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) in May 2016 to catalog and standardize proper names for stars for the international astronomical community. It operates under Division C – Education ...
(WGSN)
Properties
Taygeta has an apparent magnitude
Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the Irradiance, brightness of a star, astronomical object or other celestial objects like artificial satellites. Its value depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance, and any extinction (astronomy), ...
of +4.30 and presents as a blue-white B-type subgiant
A subgiant is a star that is brighter than a normal main-sequence star of the same spectral class, but not as bright as giant stars. The term subgiant is applied both to a particular spectral luminosity class and to a stage in the evolution ...
. It has been used as a standard star for that spectral type.[ It is a ]spectroscopic binary
A binary star or binary star system is a system of two stars that are gravitationally bound to and in orbit around each other. Binary stars in the night sky that are seen as a single object to the naked eye are often resolved as separate stars us ...
, whose component stars have magnitudes of +4.6 and +6.1. They are separated by 0.012 arcsecond
A minute of arc, arcminute (abbreviated as arcmin), arc minute, or minute arc, denoted by the symbol , is a unit of angular measurement equal to of a degree. Since one degree is of a turn, or complete rotation, one arcminute is of a tu ...
s and complete one orbit
In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an ...
every 1313 days. The subgiant primary is one of just a handful of stars in the young Pleiades cluster that have evolved
Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...
away from the main sequence
In astronomy, the main sequence is a classification of stars which appear on plots of stellar color index, color versus absolute magnitude, brightness as a continuous and distinctive band. Stars on this band are known as main-sequence stars or d ...
.[
The 8th magnitude ]visual companion
In observational astronomy, a double star or visual double is a pair of stars that appear close to each other as viewed from Earth, especially with the aid of optical telescopes.
This occurs because the pair either forms a binary star (i.e. a ...
, 19 Tauri B, is 69 arcseconds away. It is thought to be a yellow star somewhat more massive and larger than the Sun, and further away than the Pleiades cluster.[
Taygeta was once reported to be variable,][ but has since been measured to be very nearly constant.][
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taygeta (Star)
B-type subgiants
Tauri, q
Spectroscopic binaries
Pleiades
Stars with proper names
Taurus (constellation)
Tauri, q
Durchmusterung objects
Tauri, 019
023338
017531
1145
Year 1145 ( MCXLV) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Levant
* Spring – Seljuk forces led by Imad al-Din Zengi capture Saruj, the second great Crusader fortress east of the Euphrates. ...