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2 Aurigae

Possible binary star system in the constellation Auriga From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2 Aurigae
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2 Aurigae is a possible binary star system in the northern constellation of Auriga. This object is visible to the naked eye as a faint, orange-hued star with an apparent visual magnitude of +4.79.[2] It forms an attractive four-star asterism when viewed in a low power eyepiece, together with the nearby HIP 22647 and another very loose visual pair, HIP 22776 and HIP 22744, all above magnitude 8. 2 Aurigae is moving closer to the Earth with a heliocentric radial velocity of −17 km/s.[4]

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2 Aurigae in optical light

The visible component is an aging giant star with a stellar classification of K3- III Ba0.4.[3] The suffix notation indicates this is a mild barium star, which means the stellar atmosphere is enriched with s-process elements. It is either a member of a close binary system and has previously acquired these elements from a (now) white dwarf companion or else it is on the asymptotic giant branch and is generating the elements itself.[8] 2 Aurigae is 1.80[5] billion years old with 2.86[5] times the mass of the Sun and has expanded to 48[1] times the Sun's radius. It is radiating 599[1] times the Sun's luminosity from its enlarged photosphere at an effective temperature of 4,115 K.[1]

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