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Xi Cephei
Star in the constellation Cepheus From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Xi Cephei (ξ Cephei, abbreviated Xi Cep, ξ Cep) is a multiple star system in the constellation of Cepheus. It is approximately 102 light-years from Earth and has an apparent magnitude for all the components combined of 4.29.[12]
It consists of a binary star, designated Xi Cephei A, together with a more distant companion, Xi Cephei B. A's two components are themselves designated Xi Cephei Aa (officially named Kurhah /ˈkɜːrhə/, the traditional name of the system)[13] and Ab.
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Nomenclature
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ξ Cephei (Latinised to Xi Cephei) is the system's Bayer designation. The designations of the three constituents as ξ Cephei A, B and C, and those of A's components - ξ Cephei Aa and Ab - derive from the convention used by the Washington Multiplicity Catalog (WMC) for multiple star systems, and adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).[14]
Xi Cephei bore the traditional names Kurhah, Alkirdah or Al Kirduh,[15] the name coming from Qazvini who gave Al Ḳurḥaḥ (القرحة al-qurhah), an Arabic word Ideler translated as a white spot, or blaze, in the face of a horse. Allen indicates that Ideler felt this was not a proper name for a star, and suggested the name Al Ḳirdah (ألقردة al qírada "the Ape").[16] In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN)[17] to catalogue and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN decided to attribute proper names to individual stars rather than entire multiple systems.[18] It approved the name Kurhah for the component Xi Cephei Aa on 12 September 2016 and it is now so included in the List of IAU-approved Star Names.[13]
In Chinese, 天鈎 (Tiān Gōu), meaning Celestial Hook, refers to an asterism consisting of Xi Cephei, 4 Cephei, HD 194298, Eta Cephei, Theta Cephei, Alpha Cephei, 26 Cephei, Iota Cephei and Omicron Cephei.[19] Consequently, the Chinese name for Xi Cephei itself is 天鈎六 (Tiān Gōu liù, English: the Sixth Star of Celestial Hook).[20]
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Properties
Xi Cephei A is a double-lined spectroscopic binary system with an orbital period of 820 days and an eccentricity of 0.5.[10] The primary, component Aa, is a chemically peculiar Am star with an apparent magnitude of +4.61. The spectroscopic secondary, component Ab, is an F-type star.[3]
Eight arcseconds away from Xi Cephei A, Xi Cephei B is a 6th-magnitude main sequence star.[3]
Xi Cephei C is a 13th magnitude star nearly two arcminutes away.[21] It has a small parallax and is an unrelated background star only accidentally in line with Xi Cephei.[22]
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Notes
References
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