Tau Centauri
White-hued star in the constellation Centaurus
Tau Centauri , Latinized from τ Centauri, is a solitary[ 11] star in the southern constellation of Centaurus . It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of +3.86.[ 2] The distance to this star, based upon an annual parallax shift of 24.85 mas ,[ 1] is 131 light years . There is a 98% chance that it is a co-moving companion of Gamma Centauri ; the two stars have an estimated separation of 1.7 ly (0.53 pc).[ 12]
This is an A-type star with stellar classifications of A0 V[ 3] or A1 IVnn,[ 4] indicating it may be a main sequence star or a more evolved subgiant star . It is around 132[ 7] million years old and is spinning rapidly with a projected rotational velocity of 296.8[ 9] km/s. This is giving the star an oblate shape, with an estimated equatorial girth that is 30% larger than the polar radius.[ 13] The star has an estimated 2.3[ 7] times the mass of the Sun and 2.2[ 8] times the Sun's radius .
References
^ a b c d e f van Leeuwen, F. (2007), "Validation of the new Hipparcos reduction", Astronomy and Astrophysics , 474 (2): 653– 664, arXiv :0708.1752 , Bibcode :2007A&A...474..653V , doi :10.1051/0004-6361:20078357 , S2CID 18759600 .
^ a b c d Mermilliod, J.-C. (1986), "Compilation of Eggen's UBV data, transformed to UBV (unpublished)", Catalogue of Eggen's UBV Data , SIMBAD Astronomical Database, Bibcode :1986EgUBV........0M .
^ a b Lagrange, A.-M.; et al. (February 2009), "Extrasolar planets and brown dwarfs around A-F type stars. VI. High precision RV survey of early type dwarfs with HARPS", Astronomy and Astrophysics , 495 (1): 335– 352, arXiv :0809.4636 , Bibcode :2009A&A...495..335L , doi :10.1051/0004-6361:200810105 , S2CID 62894956 .
^ a b Gray, R. O.; Garrison, R. F. (July 1989), "The late A-type stars - Refined MK classification, confrontation with Stromgren photometry, and the effects of rotation", Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series , 70 (4): 623– 636, Bibcode :1989ApJS...70..623G , doi :10.1086/191349 .
^ de Bruijne, J. H. J.; Eilers, A.-C. (October 2012), "Radial velocities for the HIPPARCOS-Gaia Hundred-Thousand-Proper-Motion project", Astronomy & Astrophysics , 546 : 14, arXiv :1208.3048 , Bibcode :2012A&A...546A..61D , doi :10.1051/0004-6361/201219219 , S2CID 59451347 , A61.
^ a b Anderson, E.; Francis, Ch. (2012), "XHIP: An extended hipparcos compilation", Astronomy Letters , 38 (5): 331, arXiv :1108.4971 , Bibcode :2012AstL...38..331A , doi :10.1134/S1063773712050015 , S2CID 119257644 .
^ a b c d e f David, Trevor J.; Hillenbrand, Lynne A. (2015), "The Ages of Early-Type Stars: Strömgren Photometric Methods Calibrated, Validated, Tested, and Applied to Hosts and Prospective Hosts of Directly Imaged Exoplanets", The Astrophysical Journal , 804 (2): 146, arXiv :1501.03154 , Bibcode :2015ApJ...804..146D , doi :10.1088/0004-637X/804/2/146 , S2CID 33401607 .
^ a b Pasinetti Fracassini, L. E.; et al. (February 2001), "Catalogue of Apparent Diameters and Absolute Radii of Stars (CADARS)", Astronomy and Astrophysics , 367 (3rd ed.): 521– 524, arXiv :astro-ph/0012289 , Bibcode :2001A&A...367..521P , doi :10.1051/0004-6361:20000451 , S2CID 425754 .
^ a b Díaz, C. G.; et al. (July 2011), "Accurate stellar rotational velocities using the Fourier transform of the cross correlation maximum", Astronomy & Astrophysics , 531 : A143, arXiv :1012.4858 , Bibcode :2011A&A...531A.143D , doi :10.1051/0004-6361/201016386 , S2CID 119286673 .
^ "* tau Cen" . SIMBAD . Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg . Retrieved 2017-01-13 .{{cite web }}
: CS1 maint: postscript (link )
^ De Rosa, R. J.; et al. (January 2014), "The VAST Survey - III. The multiplicity of A-type stars within 75 pc", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , 437 (2): 1216– 1240, arXiv :1311.7141 , Bibcode :2014MNRAS.437.1216D , doi :10.1093/mnras/stt1932 , S2CID 88503488 .
^ Shaya, Ed J.; Olling, Rob P. (January 2011), "Very Wide Binaries and Other Comoving Stellar Companions: A Bayesian Analysis of the Hipparcos Catalogue", The Astrophysical Journal Supplement , 192 (1): 2, arXiv :1007.0425 , Bibcode :2011ApJS..192....2S , doi :10.1088/0067-0049/192/1/2 , S2CID 119226823
^ Belle, G. T. (2012), "Interferometric observations of rapidly rotating stars", The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review , 20 (1): 51, arXiv :1204.2572 , Bibcode :2012A&ARv..20...51V , doi :10.1007/s00159-012-0051-2 , S2CID 119273474 .