Upsilon Cygni, Latinized from υ Cygni, is a star in the northern constellation of Cygnus. It is visible to the naked eye, having an apparent visual magnitude of 4.43. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 5.0 mas, it lies at a distance of roughly 650 light years from the Sun.

Upsilon Cygni

A light curve for Upsilon Cygni. The main figure, plotted from Hipparcos data,[1] shows the long-term variability, and the inset figure, plotted from TESS data,[2] shows the short-term variability.
Observation data
Epoch J2000.0      Equinox J2000.0 (ICRS)
Constellation Cygnus
Right ascension 21h 17m 55.08585s[3]
Declination +34° 53′ 48.7255″[3]
Apparent magnitude (V) 4.43[4]
Characteristics
Spectral type B2 Vne[5]
U−B color index −0.82[4]
B−V color index −0.11[4]
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)−1.93±0.59[6] km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: +5.667[3] mas/yr
Dec.: −5.601[3] mas/yr
Parallax (π)5.0120 ± 0.1891 mas[3]
Distance650 ± 20 ly
(200 ± 8 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)−2.03[7]
Details
Mass9.25±0.52[8] M
Radius4.7[9] R
Luminosity (bolometric)7,305[8] L
Surface gravity (log g)3.30±0.10[10] cgs
Temperature22,000[8] K
Metallicity [Fe/H]−0.36[7] dex
Rotational velocity (v sin i)230±24[6] km/s
Age17.0±2.8[11] Myr
Other designations
υ Cyg, 66 Cygni, BD+34°4371, FK5 1559, HD 202904, HIP 105138, HR 8146, SAO 71173[12]
Database references
SIMBADdata

This is a B-type main sequence star with a stellar classification of B2 Vne.[5] The 'e' suffix indicates this is a Be star, which means it is a rapidly rotating star surrounded by an orbiting gaseous disk. It has a high projected rotational velocity of about 230 km/s,[6] which accounts for the nebulous appearance of its lines as indicated by the 'n' suffix. The emission region of its disk has a radius of 0.20±0.04 AU.[9] The star itself is being viewed generally "pole-on", as ascertained by the lack of absorption features from the disk.[13]

Upsilon Cygni holds 9.3[8] times the mass of the Sun and is 4.7[9] times the Sun's radius. The rapid rotation is giving the star an oblate shape with an equatorial bulge that is 18% wider than the polar radius.[10] It is radiating 7,305[8] times the solar luminosity from its outer atmosphere at an effective temperature of 22,000 K.[8]

The star shows variations in luminosity, including short term non-radial pulsations with periods of 2.95 and 2.6 per day, as well as random outbursts occurring up to every few years. The latter may be associated with mass-loss episodes. There is suspicion this is a spectroscopic binary, but no companion has been detected via speckle interferometry. Measured variations in radial velocity may be caused by a companion having an orbital period of about 11.4 years.[10] Several stars appear close to it in the sky, but they are likely optical companions.[14]

References

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  1. ^ "/ftp/cats/more/HIP/cdroms/cats". Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Strasbourg astronomical Data Center. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  2. ^ "MAST: Barbara A. Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes". Space Telescope Science Institute. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e Vallenari, A.; et al. (Gaia collaboration) (2023). "Gaia Data Release 3. Summary of the content and survey properties". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 674: A1. arXiv:2208.00211. Bibcode:2023A&A...674A...1G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202243940. S2CID 244398875. Gaia DR3 record for this source at VizieR.
  4. ^ a b c Nicolet, B. (1978), "Photoelectric photometric Catalogue of homogeneous measurements in the UBV System", Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Series, 34: 1–49, Bibcode:1978A&AS...34....1N.
  5. ^ a b Murphy, R. E. (November 1969), "A spectroscopic investigation of visual binaries with B-type primaries.", Astronomical Journal, 74: 1082–1094, Bibcode:1969AJ.....74.1082M, doi:10.1086/110908.
  6. ^ a b c Becker, Juliette C.; et al. (April 2015), "Extracting Radial Velocities of A- and B-type Stars from Echelle Spectrograph Calibration Spectra", The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 217 (2): 13, arXiv:1503.03874, Bibcode:2015ApJS..217...29B, doi:10.1088/0067-0049/217/2/29, S2CID 33968873, 29.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Hohle, M. M.; et al. (April 2010), "Masses and luminosities of O- and B-type stars and red supergiants", Astronomische Nachrichten, 331 (4): 349, arXiv:1003.2335, Bibcode:2010AN....331..349H, doi:10.1002/asna.200911355, S2CID 111387483.
  9. ^ a b c Rivinius, Thomas; et al. (2013), "Classical Be stars. Rapidly rotating B stars with viscous Keplerian decretion disks", The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review, 21: 69, arXiv:1310.3962, Bibcode:2013A&ARv..21...69R, doi:10.1007/s00159-013-0069-0, S2CID 118652497.
  10. ^ a b c Neiner, C.; et al. (July 2005), "Rotation, pulsations and outbursts in the Be star υ Cygni (HD 202904)", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 437 (1): 257–272, Bibcode:2005A&A...437..257N, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20041901.
  11. ^ Tetzlaff, N.; Neuhäuser, R.; Hohle, M. M. (January 2011), "A catalogue of young runaway Hipparcos stars within 3 kpc from the Sun", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 410 (1): 190–200, arXiv:1007.4883, Bibcode:2011MNRAS.410..190T, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.17434.x, S2CID 118629873.
  12. ^ "ups Cyg -- Be Star", SIMBAD Astronomical Database, Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg, retrieved 2017-02-21.
  13. ^ Peters, G. J. (February 1979), "An analysis of the far-ultraviolet spectra of the pole-on Be stars Upsilon Cygni and MU Centauri", Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 39: 175–193, Bibcode:1979ApJS...39..175P, doi:10.1086/190570.
  14. ^ Hutter, D. J.; Tycner, C.; Zavala, R. T.; Benson, J. A.; Hummel, C. A.; Zirm, H. (2021). "Surveying the Bright Stars by Optical Interferometry. III. A Magnitude-limited Multiplicity Survey of Classical Be Stars". The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 257 (2): 69. arXiv:2109.06839. Bibcode:2021ApJS..257...69H. doi:10.3847/1538-4365/ac23cb. S2CID 237503492.