Alnilam

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Alnilam
Alnilam
Alnilam lights up NGC 1990.
Photograph by Glen Youman
Observation data
Epoch J2000      Equinox J2000
Constellation Orion
Right ascension 05h 36m 12.8s[1]
Declination −01° 12′ 06.9″[1]
Apparent magnitude (V) 1.69[2] (1.64 - 1.74[3])
Characteristics
Spectral type B0 Ia[4]
U−B color index −1.03[2]
B−V color index −0.18[2]
Variable type α Cygni[3]
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv) 25.9[5] km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: 1.49[1] mas/yr
Dec.: −1.06[1] mas/yr
Parallax (π) 1.65 ± 0.45[1] mas
Distance approx. 2,000 ly
(approx. 600 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV) −6.95[6]
Details
Mass 30-64.5[7] M☉
Radius 28.6-42.0[7] R☉
Luminosity 389,000-832,000[7] L☉
Surface gravity (log g) 3.0[7] cgs
Temperature 27,000[7][8] K
Rotational velocity (v sin i) 40-70[7] km/s
Age 5.7[9] Myr
Other designations
Alnilam, ε Ori, 46 Orionis, 112 G Orionis, HR 1903, BD -01°969, HD 37128, SAO 132346, FK5 210, HIP 26311, TD1 4963, 参宿二
Database references
SIMBAD data

Alnilam is a large blue supergiant star some 1,340 light years distant in the constellation of Orion. It has a Bayer designation of Epsilon Orionis (ε Ori) and its Flamsteed designation is 46 Orionis. It is estimated to be 275,000 to 537,000 times as luminous as the Sun, and around 34 times as massive.

Description

It is the 30th brightest star in the sky (the 4th brightest in Orion) and is a blue-white supergiant. Together with Mintaka and Alnitak, the three stars make up the belt of Orion, known by many names across many ancient cultures. Alnilam is the middle star. It is slightly variable, from magnitude 1.64 to 1.74. Since 1943, the spectrum of this star has served as one of the stable anchor points by which other stars are classified.[4] It is also one of the 58 stars used in celestial navigation. It is at its highest point in the sky around midnight on December 15. Alnilam's relatively simple spectrum has made it useful for studying the interstellar medium. Within the next million years, this star may turn into a red supergiant and explode as a supernova.[citation needed] It is surrounded by a molecular cloud, NGC 1990, which it illuminates to make a reflection nebula. Its stellar winds may reach up to 2000 km/s, causing it to lose mass about 20 million times more rapidly than the Sun.[8]

Properties

Estimates of its properties vary. Crowther and colleagues, using stellar wind and atmospheric modelling in 2006, came up with a luminosity 275,000 times that of the Sun (L☉), and effective temperature of 27,000 K and a radius 24 times that of the Sun (R☉).[8] Searle and colleagues, using CMFGEN code to analyse the spectrum in 2008, calculated a luminosity of 537,000 L☉, an effective temperature of 27,500 ± 100 K and a radius of 32.4 ± 0.75 R☉.[6] Analysis of the spectra and age of the members of the Orion OB1 association yields a mass 34.6 times that of the Sun (40.8 M☉ on the main sequence) and an age of 5.7 million years.[9]

A more recent detailed analysis of Alnilam across multiple wavelength bands produces very high luminosity, radius, and mass estimates, assuming the distance of 606 pc suggested by the Hipparcos new reduction.[1] Adopting the larger parallax from the original Hipparcos reduction gives a distance of 412 pc[10] and physical parameters more consistent with earlier publications. The luminosity of 863,000 L☉ at 606 pc is the highest ever derived for this star.[7]

Other names and history

The name Alnilam derives from the Arabic النظام an-niżām, related to the word نظم nażm "string of pearls". Related spellings are Alnihan and Alnitam:[11] all three variants are evidently mistakes in transliteration or copy errors.[12]

Orion's Belt

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Main article: Orion's Belt
Orion
Alnilam is the middle of the three stars in the belt.

The three belt stars were collectively known by many names in many cultures. Arabic terms include Al Nijād 'the Belt', Al Nasak 'the Line', Al Alkāt 'the Golden Grains or Nuts' and, in modern Arabic, Al Mīzān al H•akk 'the Accurate Scale Beam'. In Chinese mythology they were also known as The Weighing Beam.[11] The belt was also the Three Stars mansion (simplified Chinese: 参宿; traditional Chinese: 參宿; pinyin: Shēn Xiù), one of the Twenty-eight mansions of the Chinese constellations. It is one of the western mansions of the White Tiger.

In pre-Christian Scandinavia, the belt was known as Frigg's Distaff (Friggerock) or Freyja's distaff.[13] Similarly Jacob's Staff and Peter's Staff were European biblical derived terms, as were the Three Magi, or the Three Kings. Väinämöinen's Scythe (Kalevala) and Kalevan Sword are terms from Finnish mythology.[11]

The Seri people of northwestern Mexico call the three belt stars Hapj (a name denoting a hunter) which consists of three stars: Hap (mule deer), Haamoja (pronghorn), and Mojet (bighorn sheep). Hap is in the middle and has been shot by the hunter; its blood has dripped onto Tiburón Island.[14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Coordinates: Sky map 05h 36m 12.8s, −01° 12′ 06.9″

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