19 Tauri 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 bi ...

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 origins of the e ...

of Taurus and a member of the Pleiades open star cluster ( 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) and Ab. Based on

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 ...

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 of celestial obj ...

mission, 19 Tauri A is approximately 440 light-years from the Sun.

Nomenclature

''19 Tauri'' is the system's Flamsteed designation. 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 or Latin letter followed by the genitive form of its parent constellation's Latin name. The original list of Bayer designations contained 1,564 stars. ...

''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 systems, and adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). The system bore the traditional name ''Taygeta'' (or ''Taygete''). Taygete was one of the Pleiades sisters in Greek mythology. In 2016, the IAU organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalogue and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN approved the name ''Taygeta'' for the component 19 Tauri Aa on 21 August 2016 and it is now so included in the List of IAU-approved Star Names.

Properties

19 Tauri A presents as a blue-white B-type subgiant with an apparent magnitude of +4.30. It is a

spectroscopic binary A binary star is a system of two star, stars that are gravity, 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 separa ...

, whose component stars have magnitudes of +4.6 and +6.1. They are separated by 0.012

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 and complete one orbit every 1313 days. The 8th magnitude visual companion, 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. 19 Tauri was once reported to be variable, but has since been measured to be one of the least variable of stars.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taygeta (Star) B-type subgiants Binary stars Spectroscopic binaries Pleiades Open Cluster 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 (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Levant * Spring – Seljuk forces led by Imad al-Din Zengi capture Saruj, the second great Cru ...