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Delta Circini (δ Cir), is a
All three components of δ Circini A are hot luminous stars. The brightest is an O8 star just beginning to evolve away from the main sequence. It is in a very close orbit with an O9.5 main sequence star. The two stars are deformed into ellipsoidal shapes and eclipse each other every 3.9 days. The total brightness change is only 0.15 magnitudes.
The third component is a B0.5 main sequence star in a long eccentric orbit around the close pair. It is fainter and cooler than either of the two close stars, yet it is calculated to be more massive than δ Cir A, so it is suspected that it may also be a close binary system.
multiple star
A star system or stellar system is a small number of stars that orbit each other, bound by gravitational attraction. A large group of stars bound by gravitation is generally called a '' star cluster'' or ''galaxy'', although, broadly speakin ...
system located in the constellation Circinus
Circinus is a small, faint constellation in the southern sky, first defined in 1756 by the French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille. Its name is Latin for compass, referring to the drafting tool used for drawing circles (it should not be con ...
. Delta Circini is also known as HR 5664, and HD 135240. The system has a combined apparent visual magnitude of +5.09, and is located at a distance of about 700 pc (2,300ly) from the Sun.
Companions
δ Circini A is a spectroscopic triple star, although the outer component has been resolved using the VLTI PIONIER instrument. The two inner components form aneclipsing binary
A binary star 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 using a telescope as separate stars, in ...
system.
δ Circini B is a 13th magnitude companion nearly an arc-second away. It is unclear whether the two are physically associated and little is known about the fainter star although it has been reported to be a G5 main sequence star or giant.
HD 135160 is a 6th magnitude binary Be star that shares a common space motion with δ Circini and is only 4 arc minutes away. The two make a faint naked eye pair.
System properties
All three components of δ Circini A are hot luminous stars. The brightest is an O8 star just beginning to evolve away from the main sequence. It is in a very close orbit with an O9.5 main sequence star. The two stars are deformed into ellipsoidal shapes and eclipse each other every 3.9 days. The total brightness change is only 0.15 magnitudes.
The third component is a B0.5 main sequence star in a long eccentric orbit around the close pair. It is fainter and cooler than either of the two close stars, yet it is calculated to be more massive than δ Cir A, so it is suspected that it may also be a close binary system.
References
External links
* * *http://www.alcyone.de/cgi-bin/search.pl?object=HR5664 {{DEFAULTSORT:Delta Circini Circinus Circini, Delta Circini, Delta O-type subgiants O-type giants B-type main-sequence stars 5664 135240 074778 CD-60 05539 Triple star systems Emission-line stars