EW Lacertae
Location of EW Lacertae (circled)
Observation data
Epoch J2000.0      Equinox J2000.0
Constellation Lacerta
Right ascension 22h 57m 04.50206s[1]
Declination +48° 41 2.6456[1]
Apparent magnitude (V) +5.22  +5.48[2]
Characteristics
Spectral type B4IIIpe[3]
Variable type γ Cas[2]
Astrometry
Proper motion (μ) RA: 9.298±0.062[1] mas/yr
Dec.: −5.409±0.064[1] mas/yr
Parallax (π)3.4800 ± 0.0706 mas[1]
Distance940 ± 20 ly
(287 ± 6 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)−1.65[4]
Details
Mass5.9[1] M
Radius7.0[1] R
Luminosity2,084[1] L
Surface gravity (log g)3.54[1] cgs
Temperature15,230[1] K
Metallicity [Fe/H]+0.51[1] dex
Rotational velocity (v sin i)340[5] km/s
Age40[6] Myr
Other designations
HD 217050, BD+47 3985, HIP 113327, HR 8731, SAO 52526,[7] Boss 5918[8]
Database references
SIMBADdata

EW Lacertae, also known as HD 217050 and HR 8731, is a star about 940 light years from the Earth, in the constellation Lacerta.[1] It is a 5th magnitude star, so it will be faintly visible to the naked eye of an observer located far from city lights. It is a Gamma Cassiopeiae variable, varying in brightness from magnitude 5.22 to 5.48, over a period of about 8.7 hours.[2] The star's variable spectrum, which shows changes on timescales ranging from hours to decades, has been monitored for more than a century.[9][10]

The spectral class of EW Lacertae has been given as B4IIIpe,[3] a hot giant star showing emission lines. Other publications have given types between B1 and B5, a luminosity class of III (giant) or IV (subgiant), and noted various spectral peculiarities related to being a shell star.[11] Models published in Gaia Data Release 3 place the star towards the end of its main sequence life.[1]

A light curve for EW Lacertae, plotted from TESS data.[12] The 8.681 hour period is marked in red.

Although spectrograms of EW Lacertae, then known as Boss 5918 or BD+47°3985, had been acquired as early as 1887,[9] the existence of an envelope surrounding EW Lacertae was first noticed in a spectrogram taken in 1913.[10] Edwin Frost noted that the star's spectrum was variable, in 1919.[8] In 1943, Ralph Baldwin reported that EW Lacertae had a shell spectrum.[13] The shell spectrum had disappeared in the years 1918 - 1921, but reappeared in 1922.[14] Spectra taken in 1925, 1926 and 1928 again showed no features associated with a shell, but the shell features in the spectrum were very clear by the end of 1940.[9]

Observations in the early 1950s at the Lick Observatory by Merle Walker revealed that EW Lacertae was a variable star,[15] and it was given its variable star designation in the General Catalogue of Variable Stars.[16]

The complex variations seen in the spectrum of EW Lacertae may be caused by a disk of gas surrounding the star, seen nearly edge-on by an observer on the Earth, which occasionally has temporary density enhancements which persist for years.[17]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Vallenari, A.; et al. (Gaia collaboration) (2023). "Gaia Data Release 3. Summary of the content and survey properties". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 674: A1. arXiv:2208.00211. Bibcode:2023A&A...674A...1G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202243940. S2CID 244398875. Gaia DR3 record for this source at VizieR.
  2. 1 2 3 Samus', N. N.; Kazarovets, E. V.; Durlevich, O. V.; Kireeva, N. N.; Pastukhova, E. N. (2017). "General catalogue of variable stars: Version GCVS 5.1". Astronomy Reports. 61 (1): 80. Bibcode:2017ARep...61...80S. doi:10.1134/S1063772917010085. S2CID 125853869.
  3. 1 2 Antoniou, A.; Stathopoulos, D.; Danezis, E.; Lyratzi, E. (2011). "Studying the UV mg II Resonance Lines in 20 Be Stars". Baltic Astronomy. 20 (4): 572–575. Bibcode:2011BaltA..20..572A. doi:10.1515/astro-2017-0338. S2CID 99940009.
  4. Anderson, E.; Francis, Ch. (May 2012). "XHIP: An extended hipparcos compilation". Astronomy Letters. 38 (5): 331–346. arXiv:1108.4971. Bibcode:2012AstL...38..331A. doi:10.1134/S1063773712050015. eISSN 1562-6873. ISSN 1063-7737. S2CID 119257644.
  5. Ahmed, A.; Sigut, T. A. A. (2017). "Rotational mixing in be stars: Nitrogen abundances for a sample of be stars from the MiMeS survey". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 471 (3): 3398. arXiv:1707.03009. Bibcode:2017MNRAS.471.3398A. doi:10.1093/mnras/stx1737.
  6. Tetzlaff, N.; Neuhäuser, R.; Hohle, M. M. (October 12, 2010). "A catalogue of young runaway Hipparcos stars within 3 kpc from the Sun". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Oxford University Press (OUP). 410 (1): 190–200. arXiv:1007.4883. Bibcode:2011MNRAS.410..190T. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.17434.x. ISSN 0035-8711.
  7. "HD 217050 -- Be Star". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  8. 1 2 Frost, E. B. (January 1919). "A star with disappearing bright lines". Astrophysical Journal. 49: 61–62. Bibcode:1919ApJ....49...61F. doi:10.1086/142444.
  9. 1 2 3 Hubert, A. M.; Floquet, M.; Chauville, J.; Chambon, M. T. (September 1987). "Spectral features of the B2e star EW Lac before and during the variable shell phase". Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Series. 70: 443–464. Bibcode:1987A&AS...70..443H.
  10. 1 2 Voikhanskaya, N. F. (April 1976). "Spectrum of EW Lacertae in 1974". Astrophysics. 12 (2): 135–144. Bibcode:1976Ap.....12..135V. doi:10.1007/BF01002028. S2CID 121399502.
  11. Skiff, B. A. (2014). "VizieR Online Data Catalog: Catalogue of Stellar Spectral Classifications (Skiff, 2009- )". VizieR On-line Data Catalog. Bibcode:2014yCat....1.2023S.
  12. "MAST: Barbara A. Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes". Space Telescope Science Institute. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  13. Baldwin, Ralph B. (May 1943). "The Shell Spectrum of HR 8731 IN 1940, with an Intercomparison of the Spectra of Several Shells". Astrophysical Journal. 97: 388–393. Bibcode:1943ApJ....97..388B. doi:10.1086/144528.
  14. Kogure, T. (1975). "Shell spectrum of the Be star HD 217050, 1966 - 1972". Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan. 27: 165–179. Bibcode:1975PASJ...27..165K.
  15. Walker, Merle F. (November 1953). "The Light-Variations of HD 217050". Astrophysical Journal. 118: 481–488. Bibcode:1953ApJ...118..481W. doi:10.1086/145776.
  16. Walker, M. F. (1958). "HD 217050 : A cooperative program of photoelectric observations". The Astronomical Journal. 63: 237. Bibcode:1958AJ.....63..237W. doi:10.1086/107735.
  17. Mon, Masahiro; Suzuki, Masakazu; Moritani, Yuki; Kogure, Tomokazu (August 2013). "Spectroscopic Variations of the Be-Shell Star EW Lacertae in the V/R Variation Periods". Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan. 65 (4): 77. arXiv:1306.2511. Bibcode:2013PASJ...65...77M. doi:10.1093/pasj/65.4.77.
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