Mu Cephei

Mu Cephei

Location of μ Cep (circled)
Observation data Epoch J2000.0      Equinox J2000.0
Constellation	Cepheus
Right ascension	21h 43m 30.4609s
Declination	+58° 46′ 48.166″
Apparent magnitude (V)	+4.08 (3.43 - 5.1)
Characteristics
Spectral type	M2e Ia
U−B color index	+2.42
B−V color index	+2.35
Variable type	SRc
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)	+20.63 km/s
Proper motion (μ)	RA: +5.24 mas/yr Dec.: −2.88 mas/yr
Parallax (π)	0.55 ± 0.2 mas
Distance	approx. 6,000 ly (approx. 1,800 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)	−7.63
Details
Mass	19.2 ± 0.1 M☉
Radius	1,260 R☉
Luminosity	283,000 L☉
Surface gravity (log g)	−0.63 cgs
Temperature	3,750 K
Age	10.0 ± 0.1 Myr
Other designations
Erakis, Herschel's Garnet Star, μ Cep, HD 206936, HR 8316, BD+58°2316, HIP 107259, SAO 33693
Database references
SIMBAD	data

Mu Cephei (μ Cep, μ Cephei), also known as Herschel's Garnet Star, is a red supergiant star in the constellation Cepheus. It appears garnet red and is located at the edge of the IC 1396 nebula. Since 1943, the spectrum of this star has served as the M2 Ia standard by which other stars are classified.

Mu Cephei is visually nearly 100,000 times brighter than the Sun, with an absolute visible magnitude of M_v = −7.6. Summing radiation at all wavelengths gives a luminosity of around 280,000 L_☉ (bolometric magnitude −8.8), making it one of the most luminous red supergiants in the Milky Way. It is also one of the largest stars known at 1,260 R_☉.

History

The deep red color of Mu Cephei was noted by William Herschel, who described it as "a very fine deep garnet colour, such as the periodical star ο Ceti". It is thus commonly known as Herschel's "Garnet Star". Mu Cephei was called Garnet sidus by Giuseppe Piazzi in his catalogue. An alternative name, Erakis, used in Antonín Bečvář's star catalogue, is probably due to confusion with Mu Draconis, which was previously called al-Rāqis [arˈraːqis] in Arabic.

In 1848, English astronomer John Russell Hind discovered that Mu Cephei was variable. This variability was quickly confirmed by German astronomer Friedrich Wilhelm Argelander. Almost continual records of the star's variability have been maintained since 1881.

Variability

Mu Cephei is a variable star and the prototype of the obsolete class of the Mu Cephei variables. It is now considered to be a semiregular variable of type SRc. Its apparent brightness varies erratically between magnitude 3.4 and 5.1. Many different periods have been reported, but they are consistently near to either 860 days or 4,400 days.

Properties

Relative sizes of the planets in the Solar System and several well-known stars, including Mu Cephei.
1. Mercury < Mars < Venus < Earth
2. Earth < Neptune < Uranus < Saturn < Jupiter
3. Jupiter < Wolf 359 < Sun < Sirius
4. Sirius < Pollux < Arcturus < Aldebaran
5. Aldebaran < Rigel < Antares < Betelgeuse
6. Betelgeuse < Mu Cephei < VV Cephei A < VY Canis Majoris.

A very luminous red supergiant, Mu Cephei is likely to be the largest star visible to the naked eye, and one of the largest known. It is best seen from the northern hemisphere from August to January.

This is a runaway star with a peculiar velocity of 80.7 ± 17.7 km/s. The distance to Mu Cephei is not very well known. The Hipparcos satellite was used to measure a parallax of 0.55 ± 0.20 milliarcseconds, which corresponds to an estimated distance of 1,333–2,857 parsecs. However, this value is close to the margin of error. A determination of the distance based upon a size comparison with Betelgeuse gives an estimate of 390 ± 140 parsecs, so it is clear that Mu Cephei is either a much larger star than Betelgeuse or much closer (and smaller and less luminous) than expected.

The star is approximately 1,300 times larger than our Sun's solar radius, and were it placed in the Sun's position, its radius would reach between the orbit of Jupiter and Saturn. Mu Cephei could fit over a billion Suns into its volume.

The photosphere of Mu Cephei has an estimated temperature of 3,750 K. It may be surrounded by a shell extending out to a distance at least equal to 0.33 times the star's radius with a temperature of 2,055 ± 25 K. This outer shell appears to contain molecular gases such as CO, H₂O, and SiO.

Emissions from the star suggest the presence of a wide ring of dust and water with outer radius four times that of the star (i.e., 2,600 R_☉_ and inner boundary twice the radius of the star (1,300 R_☉). Placed in the position of our Sun, its disk would span between 6 astronomical units (within Jupiter's orbital zone) and 12 astronomical units (beyond Saturn's orbit).

The star is surrounded by a spherical shell of ejected material that extends outward to an angular distance of 6″ with an expansion velocity of 10 km s⁻¹. This indicates an age of about 2,000–3,000 years for the shell. Closer to the star, this material shows a pronounced asymmetry, which may be shaped as a torus. The star currently has a mass loss rate of a few times 10⁻⁷ M_☉ per year.

Supernova

Mu Cephei is nearing death. It has begun to fuse helium into carbon, whereas a main sequence star fuses hydrogen into helium. When a supergiant star has converted elements in its core to iron, the core collapses to produce a supernova and the star is destroyed, leaving behind a vast gaseous cloud and a small, dense remnant. For a star as massive as Mu Cephei the remnant is likely to be a black hole. The most massive red supergiants will evolve back to blue supergiants or Wolf-Rayet stars before their cores collapse, and Mu Cephei appears to be massive enough for this to happen. A post-red supergiant will produce a type IIn or type II-b supernova, while a Wolf Rayet star will produce a type Ib or Ic supernova.

External links

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