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Tau Cassiopeiae

Map of the Bayer-designated stars in Cassiopeia. Tau Cassiopeiae is circled.
Observation data Epoch J2000.0      Equinox J2000.0 (ICRS)
Constellation	Cassiopeia
Right ascension	23 47 03.39
Declination	+58° 39′ 06.7″
Apparent magnitude (V)	+4.86
Characteristics
Spectral type	K1 IIIa
U−B color index	+1.05
B−V color index	+1.11
Variable type	Suspected
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)	−20.48±0.31 km/s
Proper motion (μ)	RA: +60.81±0.19 mas/yr Dec.: +56.47±0.17 mas/yr
Parallax (π)	18.75 ± 0.20 mas
Distance	174 ± 2 ly (53.3 ± 0.6 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)	1.269
Details
Mass	1.44 M☉
Radius	10 R☉
Luminosity	40 L☉
Surface gravity (log g)	2.50±0.09 cgs
Temperature	4,617±77 K
Metallicity	+0.06±0.06 dex
Rotational velocity (v sin i)	5.9 km/s
Age	3.90 Gyr
Other designations
τ Cas, 5 Cas, BD+57° 2804, FK5 3909, HD 223165, HIP 117301, HR 9008, SAO 35763
Database references
SIMBAD	data

Tau Cassiopeiae (τ Cassiopeiae) is a solitary, orange hued star in the northern constellation of Cassiopeia. It is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye, having an apparent visual magnitude of +4.86. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 18.75 mas as seen from Earth, this system is located about 174 light years from the Sun.

The spectrum of this star indicates it is an evolved, K-type giant star with a stellar classification of K1 IIIa. It is a suspected variable star of unknown type. Tau Cassiopeiae is 3.9 billion years old with about 1.44 times the mass of the Sun and 10 times the Sun's radius. It is radiating 40 times the Sun's luminosity from its expanded photosphere at an effective temperature of around 4,617 K.

Naming

In Chinese, 螣蛇 (Téng Shé), meaning Flying Serpent, refers to an asterism consisting of τ Cassiopeiae, α Lacertae, 4 Lacertae, π Cygni, π Cygni, HD 206267, ε Cephei, β Lacertae, σ Cassiopeiae, ρ Cassiopeiae, AR Cassiopeiae, 9 Lacertae, 3 Andromedae, 7 Andromedae, 8 Andromedae, λ Andromedae, κ Andromedae, ι Andromedae, and ψ Andromedae. Consequently, the Chinese name for τ Cassiopeiae itself is 螣蛇十三 (Téng Shé shísān, English: the Thirteenth Star of Flying Serpent).

References

1. ^ 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.
2. ^ Argue, A. N. (1966), "UBV photometry of 550 F, G and K type stars", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 133 (4): 475, Bibcode:1966MNRAS.133..475A, doi:10.1093/mnras/133.4.475.
3. ^ Keenan, Philip C.; McNeil, Raymond C. (1989), "The Perkins catalog of revised MK types for the cooler stars", Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 71: 245, Bibcode:1989ApJS...71..245K, doi:10.1086/191373.
4. ^ Halbedel, E. M. (February 1993), "tau Cas: a Variable Star after All?", Information Bulletin on Variable Stars, 3851 (3851): 1, Bibcode:1993IBVS.3851....1H.
5. ^ Massarotti, Alessandro; et al. (January 2008), "Rotational and radial velocities for a sample of 761 HIPPARCOS giants and the role of binarity", The Astronomical Journal, 135 (1): 209–231, Bibcode:2008AJ....135..209M, doi:10.1088/0004-6256/135/1/209
6. Soubiran, C.; et al. (March 2008), "Vertical distribution of Galactic disk stars. IV. AMR and AVR from clump giants", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 480 (1): 91–101, arXiv:0712.1370, Bibcode:2008A&A...480...91S, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20078788, S2CID 16602121.
7. ^ Luck, R. Earle (2015), "Abundances in the Local Region. I. G and K Giants", The Astronomical Journal, 150 (3): 88, arXiv:1507.01466, Bibcode:2015AJ....150...88L, doi:10.1088/0004-6256/150/3/88, S2CID 118505114
8. ^ Wu, Yue; et al. (2010), "Coudé-feed stellar spectral library – atmospheric parameters", Astronomy & Astrophysics, 525: A71, arXiv:1009.1491, Bibcode:2011A&A...525A..71W, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201015014, S2CID 53480665.
9. "tau Cas". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2017-08-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
10. Eggleton, P. P.; Tokovinin, A. A. (September 2008), "A catalogue of multiplicity among bright stellar systems", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 389 (2): 869–879, arXiv:0806.2878, Bibcode:2008MNRAS.389..869E, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.13596.x, S2CID 14878976.
11. Halbedel, E. M. (November 1989), "Another Opinion on the Variability of tau Cas", Information Bulletin on Variable Stars, 3394 (3394): 1, Bibcode:1989IBVS.3394....1H.
12. (in Chinese) AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) 天文教育資訊網 2006 年 7 月 7 日 Archived 2011-05-21 at the Wayback Machine

v t e Constellation of Cassiopeia
List of stars in Cassiopeia Cassiopeia in Chinese astronomy
Stars	Bayer α (Schedar) β (Caph) γ (Navi/Tsih) δ (Ruchbah) ε (Segin) ζ (Fulu) η (Achird) θ (Marfak) ι κ λ μ ν ξ ο π ρ σ τ υ υ (Castula) φ χ ψ ω Flamsteed 1 2 4 6 9 10 12 42 47 48 (A) 49 50 54 Variable R S TZ WZ YZ (21) AO AR PZ V373 V509 V547 V669 V705 V762 V863 V773 V987 V1022 V1405 HR 5 91 144 196 244 273 297 743 932 8832 8853 8881 HD 861 7924 7977 15558 17156 (Nushagak) 240210 240237 240429 240430 Other BD+60°2522 Gliese 49 IRAS 23304+6147 LS I +61 303 PSR J0205+6449 Tycho G 4U 0142+61 WR 2 WR 3
Exoplanets HD 7924 b HD 17156 b HD 219134 b c d e (h) f g HD 240210 b HD 240237 b
Star clusters Messier 52 Messier 103 NGC 103 NGC 110 NGC 129 NGC 133 NGC 136 NGC 146 NGC 189 NGC 225 NGC 358 NGC 366 NGC 381 NGC 433 NGC 436 NGC 457 NGC 559 NGC 637 NGC 654 NGC 659 NGC 663 NGC 1027 NGC 7789 NGC 7790 Trumpler 3
Nebulae	NGC 281 7635 Other 3C 58 Cassiopeia A Heart Nebula IC 289 IC 1805 KjPn 8 LBN 114.55+00.22 Sh 2-185 Westerhout 5
Galaxies	NGC 147 185 278 Other Andromeda VII 3C 20 3C 35 Dwingeloo 1 Dwingeloo 2 MB 3 IC 10 Maffei 1 Maffei 2 QSO B0153+744
Astronomical events SN 1181 SN 1572 (B)
Category

• K-type giants
• Suspected variables
• Bayer objects
• Cassiopeia (constellation)
• Durchmusterung objects
• Flamsteed objects
• Henry Draper Catalogue objects
• Hipparcos objects
• Bright Star Catalogue objects