Alnitak

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Alnitak
Ngc2024 2mass.jpg
Alnitak (in lower right corner) and Flame Nebula
Observation data
Epoch J2000      Equinox J2000
Constellation Orion
Right ascension 05h 40m 45.52666s[1]
Declination −01° 56′ 342649″[1]
Apparent magnitude (V) 1.77[2] (2.08 + 4.28 + 4.01[3])
Characteristics
Spectral type O9.5Iab/B1IV/B0III[3]
U−B color index −1.06[2]
B−V color index −0.11 (A)
−0.20 (B)[4]
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv) 18.50[5] km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: 3.19[1] mas/yr
Dec.: 2.03[1] mas/yr
Parallax (π) 4.43 ± 0.64[1] mas
Distance 387 ± 54[3] pc
Absolute magnitude (MV) −6.0/−3.9/−4.1[3]
Orbit[3]
Primary Aa
Companion Ab
Period (P) 2,687 days
Semi-major axis (a) 0.0359"
Eccentricity (e) 0.338
Inclination (i) 139.3°
Longitude of the node (Ω) 83.8°
Periastron epoch (T) JD 2452734.2
Semi-amplitude (K1)
(primary)		 10.1 km/s
Semi-amplitude (K2)
(secondary)		 19.6 km/s
Orbit[6]
Primary A
Companion B
Period (P) 1,508.6 yr
Semi-major axis (a) 2.7280"
Eccentricity (e) 0.0700
Inclination (i) 72.0°
Longitude of the node (Ω) 155.5°
Periastron epoch (T) 2070.6
Details
Mass 33/14[3]/16 M☉
Radius 20/7.3[3]/7.2 R☉
Luminosity 250,000/31,600[3]/35,000 L☉
Temperature 28,000/28,000[3]/29,000 K
Rotation 140/?/350[3]
Age ~7[3] Myr
Other designations
ζ Orionis, 50 Orionis, 126 G. Orionis, HR 1948/9, BD−02°1338, HD 37742, SAO 132444, HIP 26727, TD1 5127, 參宿一
Database references
SIMBAD data

Alnitak (Arabic: النطاق an-niṭāq‎‎) is a multiple star several hundred parsecs away in the constellation Orion. It is part of Orion's Belt along with Alnilam and Mintaka, and has a Bayer designation of Zeta Orionis (ζ Ori) and a Flamsteed designation of 50 Orionis.

The primary star is a hot blue supergiant with an absolute magnitude of -6.0 and is the brightest class O star in the night sky with a visual magnitude of +2.0. It has two bluish 4th magnitude companions, one finely resolved and one only detected interferometrically and spectroscopically, producing a combined magnitude for the trio of +1.77. The stars are members of the Orion OB1 association and the Collinder 70 association.

Observation history

Alnitak has been known since antiquity and, as a component of Orion's belt, has been of widespread cultural significance. It was reported to be a double star by amateur German astronomer George K. Kunowsky in 1819.[7] Much more recently, in 1998, the bright primary was found by a team from the Lowell Observatory to have a close companion; this had been suspected from observations made with the Narrabri Stellar Intensity Interferometer in the 1970s.[8] The stellar parallax derived from observations by the Hipparcos satellite imply a distance around 225pc, but this does not take into account distortions caused by the multiple nature of the system and larger distances have been derived by many authors.

System

Alnitak Aa compared to the Sun (to scale)

Alnitak is a binary star system at the eastern end of Orion's belt, the second magnitude primary having a 4th magnitude companion nearly 3 arc-seconds distant, in an orbit taking over 1,500 years. The primary (Alnitak A) is itself a close binary, comprising Alnitak Aa (a blue supergiant of spectral type O9.5Iab with an absolute magnitude of -6.0 and an apparent magnitude of 2.0) and Alnitak Ab (a blue sub-giant of spectral type B1IV with an absolute magnitude of -3.9 and an apparent magnitude of 4.3, discovered in 1998 [8]). Aa is estimated as being up to 33 times as massive as the Sun and to have a diameter 20 times greater. It is some 21 000 times brighter than the sun, with a surface brightness (luminance) some 50 times greater.[citation needed] It is the brightest star of class O in the night sky. A fourth star, 9th magnitude Alnitak C, has not been confirmed to be part of the Aa-Ab-B group, and may simply lie along the line of sight.

The Alnitak system is bathed in the nebulosity of IC 434.

Etymology and cultural significance

The traditional name Alnitak, alternately spelled Al Nitak or Alnitah, is taken from the Arabic النطاق an-niṭāq, "the girdle".[7]

Orion's belt

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Main article: Orion's Belt

The three belt stars were collectively known by many names in many cultures. Arabic terms include النجاد Al Nijād 'the Belt', النسك Al Nasak 'the Line', العلقات Al Alkāt 'the Golden Grains or Nuts' and, in modern Arabic, ميزان الحق Al Mīzān al Ḥaqq 'the Accurate Scale Beam'. In Chinese mythology they were known as The Weighing Beam.[7]

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.[9] 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.[7]

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.[10]

In Latin America, this asterism is known as Las Tres Marías or As Três Marias which stand for The Three Marys in Spanish and Portuguese respectively.

In the Star Trek episode The City on the Edge of Forever, Captain James T. Kirk references Alnitak by pointing it out as "that far left star in Orion's belt—see?"

Namesakes

USS Alnitah (AK-127) was a United States Navy Crater class cargo ship named after the star.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 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. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Richard Hinckley Allen, Star-names and their meanings (1936), p. 314-15.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Schön, Ebbe. (2004). Asa-Tors hammare, Gudar och jättar i tro och tradition. Fält & Hässler, Värnamo. p. 228.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Coordinates: Sky map 05h 40m 45.5s, −01° 56′ 34″

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