Sigma Aurigae, Latinized from σ Aurigae, is a giant star in the northern

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 origins of the e ...

Auriga AURIGA (''Antenna Ultracriogenica Risonante per l'Indagine Gravitazionale Astronomica'') is an ultracryogenic resonant bar gravitational wave detector in Italy. It is at the Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro of the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nuclea ...

. It is faintly visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 4.99. With an annual

parallax Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight and is measured by the angle or semi-angle of inclination between those two lines. Due to foreshortening, nearby objects ...

shift of 6.21

mas Mas, Más or MAS may refer to: Film and TV * Más y Menos, fictional superhero characters, from the Teen Titans animated television series * Más (Breaking Bad), "Más" (''Breaking Bad''), a season three episode of ''Breaking Bad'' Songs * Más ( ...

, it is approximately distant from the Earth. This is an

evolved Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation t ...

giant star with a

stellar classification In astronomy, stellar classification is the classification of stars based on their stellar spectrum, spectral characteristics. Electromagnetic radiation from the star is analyzed by splitting it with a Prism (optics), prism or diffraction grati ...

of K4 III. Sigma Aurigae has a 12th magnitude companion at an

angular separation Angular distance \theta (also known as angular separation, apparent distance, or apparent separation) is the angle between the two sightlines, or between two point objects as viewed from an observer. Angular distance appears in mathematics (in pa ...

of 8

arcsecond A minute of arc, arcminute (arcmin), arc minute, or minute arc, denoted by the symbol , is a unit of angular measurement equal to of one degree. Since one degree is of a turn (or complete rotation), one minute of arc is of a turn. The na ...

s, as well as two fainter companions at 28 and 35" respectively. All are background objects, stars much further away than Sigma itself. Sigma Aurigae, along with λ Aur and μ Aur, were Kazwini's ''Al Ḣibāʽ'' (ألحباع), the Tent. According to the catalogue of stars in the ''Technical Memorandum 33-507 – A Reduced Star Catalog Containing 537 Named Stars'', ''Al Ḣibāʽ'' were the title for three stars: λ Aur as ''Al Ḣibāʽ I'', μ Aur as ''Al Ḣibāʽ II'' and σ Aur as ''Al Ḣibāʽ III''.

References

External links

HR 1773

CCDM J05247+3723

Image Sigma Aurigae
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sigma Aurigae 035186 Double stars 025292 Aurigae, Sigma Auriga (constellation) K-type giants Aurigae, 21

1773 Events January–March * January 1 – The hymn that becomes known as ''Amazing Grace'', at this time titled "1 Chronicles 17:16–17", is first used to accompany a sermon led by curate John Newton in the town of Olney, Bucking ...

Durchmusterung objects