Stars
Alpha Cephei, traditionally called "Alderamin", is a white hued star of magnitude 2.5, 49 light-years from Earth. Beta Cephei, traditionally called "Alfirk", is a double star with a blue-hued giant primary of magnitude 3.2 and a secondary of magnitude 7.9. The primary is a variable star considered to be the prototype of its subclass of pulsating variable stars, which are sometimes named for Beta Canis Majoris. Beta Cephei variables do not have wide ranges in magnitude, nor do they have periods longer than a few hours. Beta Cephei itself varies 0.1 magnitudes every 4.6 hours. Its traditional name means "flock" and refers to a flock of sheep. Gamma Cephei, traditionally called Errai, is an orange-hued star of magnitude 3.2, 45 light-years from Earth. Its traditional name means "the shepherd". It is a binary star approximately 50 light years away from Earth. The system consists of an orange subgiant and a red dwarf. Due to the precession of the equinoxes, γ Cephei will be the pole star between AD 3000 and 5200, with the closest approach to the celestial pole around AD 4000. The primary component is orbited by a planet.
δ Cephei is the prototype Cepheid variable, a yellow-hued supergiant star 980 light-years from Earth. It was discovered to be variable by John Goodricke in 1784. It varies between 3.5m and 4.4m over a period of 5 days and 9 hours. The Cepheids are a class of pulsating variable stars; Delta Cephei has a minimum size of 40 solar diameters and a maximum size of 46 solar diameters. It is also a double star; the yellow star also has a wide-set blue-hued companion of magnitude 6.3.
There are several other prominent variable stars in Cepheus. One, μ Cephei, is also known as Herschel's Garnet Star due to its deep red colour. It is a semiregular variable star with a minimum magnitude of 5.1 and a maximum magnitude of 3.4. Its period is approximately 2 years. The star is around 11.8 AU in radius. If it were placed at the centre of our Solar System, it would extend to the orbit of Saturn. Another, VV Cephei, like Mu Cephei, is a red supergiant and a semiregular variable star, located at least 2000 light-years from Earth. It has a minimum magnitude of 5.4 and a maximum magnitude of 4.8. One of the largest stars in the galaxy, it has a diameter of over 1000 solar diameters. VV Cephei is also an unusually long-period eclipsing binary, but the eclipses, which occur every 20.3 years, are too faint to be observed with the unaided eye. T Cephei, also a red giant, is a Mira variable with a minimum magnitude of 11.3 and a maximum magnitude of 5.2, 685 light-years from Earth. It has a period of 13 months and a diameter of 500 solar diameters.
There are several prominent double stars and binary stars in Cepheus. Omicron Cephei is a binary star with a period of 800 years. The system, 211 light-years from Earth, consists of an orange-hued giant primary of magnitude 4.9 and a secondary of magnitude 7.1. Xi Cephei is another binary star, 102 light-years from Earth, with a period of 4000 years. It has a blue-white primary of magnitude 4.4 and a yellow secondary of magnitude 6.5.
Kruger 60 is an 11th magnitude binary star consisting of two red dwarfs. The star system is one of the nearest, being only 13 light years away from Earth.
Read more about this topic: Cepheus (constellation), Notable Features
Famous quotes containing the word stars:
“A man gazing on the stars is proverbially at the mercy of the puddles in the road.”
—Alexander Smith (1830–1867)
“In my stars I am above thee, but be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ‘em.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“It becomes the moralist, too, to inquire what man might do to improve and beautify the system; what to make the stars shine more brightly, the sun more cheery and joyous, the moon more placid and content.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)