Ross 614 (V577 Monocerotis) is a red dwarfUV Ceti[4]flare star and it is the primary member of a nearby binary star system in the constellation of Monoceros. This star has a magnitude of about 11, making it invisible to the unaided eye even though it is one of the stars nearest to the Sun.[1] This system is among the closest to the Sun at an estimated distance of about 13.3 light years. Because this star is so close to the Earth it is often the subject of study, hence the large number of designations by which it is known.
Binary star system
This binary star system consists of two closely spaced low-mass red dwarfs. The secondary star is a dim magnitude 14 lost in the glare of the nearby primary star.[2]
A study by George Gatewood in 2003 using older sources along with data from the Hipparcos satellite yielded an orbital period of about 16.6 years and a semi-major axis separation of about 1.1 arc seconds (2.4–5.3 AU).[3] The most recent determination of the system orbital elements comes from a 2022 study combining data from radial velocity, astrometry, and imaging, which finds a similar orbital period, a semi-major axis of 4.2 AU, and a very low mass for the companion of 94.8MJ.[5]
History
The primary star was discovered in 1927 by F. E. Ross using the 40 in (100 cm) refractor telescope at the Yerkes Observatory. He noticed the high proper motion of this dim 11th magnitude star in his second-epoch plates that were part of an astronomical survey started by E. E. Barnard, his predecessor at the observatory. Ross then included this new star in his eponymous catalog along with many others he discovered.