HD 125248

Last updated
HD 125248
Libra constellation map.svg
Red circle.svg
Location of HD 125248 (circled)
Observation data
Epoch J2000.0        Equinox J2000.0
Constellation Virgo
Right ascension 14h 18m 38.251s [1]
Declination −18° 42 57.47 [1]
Apparent magnitude  (V)5.84 to 5.95 [2]
Characteristics
Evolutionary stage Main sequence [3]
Spectral type A1p SrCrEu [4] or ApSi(Cr) [5]
B−V color index 0.013±0.006 [6]
Variable type α2 CVn [2]
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)−8.0±0.8 [7] km/s
Proper motion (μ)RA: −52.197 mas/yr [1]
Dec.: −46.004 mas/yr [1]
Parallax (π)11.497±0.5361  mas [1]
Distance 280 ± 10  ly
(87 ± 4  pc)
Absolute magnitude  (MV)0.83 [6]
Orbit [8]
Period (P)4.4 yr
Semi-major axis (a)≥161 Gm (1.08 AU)
Eccentricity (e)0.21±0.01
Periastron epoch (T)2,431,475.0  JD
Argument of periastron (ω)
(secondary)
82.4±3.4°
Semi-amplitude (K1)
(primary)
7.5±0.5 km/s
Details
Mass 2.0±0.6 [9]   M
Radius 1.95 [10]   R
Luminosity 42.0±8.3 [9]   L
Surface gravity (log g)4.05±0.10 [9]   cgs
Temperature 9,850±250 [9]   K
Rotation 9.29558±0.00006 d [9]
Rotational velocity (v sin i)18 [11]  km/s
Age 234 [9]   Myr
Other designations
236 G. Virginis, CS Vir, BD−18°3789, FK5 1369, GC 19295, HD 125248, HIP 69929, HR 5355, SAO 158481, PPM 228604 [12]
Database references
SIMBAD data

HD 125248 is a binary star [13] system in the equatorial constellation of Virgo. It has the variable star designation CS Virginis, while HD 125248 is the designation from the Henry Draper Catalogue . This system is dimly visible to the naked eye as a point of light with an apparent visual magnitude that ranges from 5.84 down to 5.95. [2] It is located at a distance of approximately 280  light years from the Sun based on parallax measurements, [1] but is drifting closer with a heliocentric radial velocity of −8 km/s. [7]

This star was classified as peculiar with spectral type A0p in the Henry Draper Catalogue, published 1918–1924. This class was based on the strength of a pair of lines of ionized silicon in its stellar spectrum. In 1931, W. W. Morgan discovered that the spectrum of the star varied over a period of several days. In particular, the lines of ionized chromium and europium varied considerably in intensity, ranging from strong to very faint. This variation shares similarities to those of α2 Canum Venaticorum. The two sets of lines vary in the opposite direction from each other, so that the chromium lines were minimum when the europium lines were maximized, and vice versa. [14] In 1947, A. J. Deutsch found a period of 9.295 days for the variation. [15]

H. W. Babcock examined the star using Coudé spectrograms in 1947, finding a general magnetic field with a strength of around 5,500  Gauss at the poles. At the time, that was the strongest magnetic field that had been observed in a star. He noticed that the magnetic field was variable, and it showed the opposite polarity when the lines of europium were at a minimum compared to when they were at the maximum. [16] Subsequent observations showed the period and amplitude of the variation to be stable over time. [8] In 1950, D. W. N. Stibbs first proposed an 'oblique rotator model' to explain the properties of this star, [17] in which its magnetic field is locked at an angle to the axis of rotation. [9]

A light curve for CS Virginis, plotted from Hipparcos data CSVirLightCurve.png
A light curve for CS Virginis, plotted from Hipparcos data

The star displays radial velocity variations that suggest it is a single-lined spectroscopic binary with a period of 4.4 years and an orbital eccentricity of 0.21. [8] The visible component has a stellar classification of A1p SrCrEu, [4] which indicates this is a magnetic peculiar Ap star with prominent abundance anomalies of strontium, chromium, and europium in its atmosphere. It has double the mass and nearly twice the radius of the Sun. [9] [10] The star is an estimated 234 million years old and is spinning with a rotation rate of 9.3 days. [9] It is radiating 42 times the luminosity of the Sun from its photosphere at an effective temperature of 9,850 K. [9]

In 1950, Douglas Walter Noble Stibbs published data showing that HD 125248's brightness varies. [19] It is an Alpha2 Canum Venaticorum variable star with a brightness that is modulated by its rotation. [2] Magnetic Doppler imaging of the star suggests the magnetic field deviates strongly from a simple dipole geometry. [9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Brown, A. G. A.; et al. (Gaia collaboration) (2021). "Gaia Early Data Release 3: Summary of the contents and survey properties". Astronomy & Astrophysics . 649: A1. arXiv: 2012.01533 . Bibcode:2021A&A...649A...1G. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202039657 . S2CID   227254300. (Erratum:  doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202039657e). Gaia EDR3 record for this source at VizieR.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Samus, N. N.; et al. (2017), "General Catalogue of Variable Stars", Astronomy Reports , 5.1, 61 (1): 80–88, Bibcode:2017ARep...61...80S, doi:10.1134/S1063772917010085, S2CID   125853869.
  3. Ozuyar, D.; et al. (2018), "Photometric Variability of the MCP Star CS vir: Evolution of the Rotation Period", Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 35, arXiv: 1712.00832 , Bibcode:2018PASA...35....4O, doi:10.1017/pasa.2017.69, S2CID   54071984.
  4. 1 2 Renson, P.; Manfroid, J. (May 2009), "Catalogue of Ap, HgMn and Am stars", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 498 (3): 961–966, Bibcode:2009A&A...498..961R, doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/200810788 .
  5. Houk, Nancy; Smith-Moore, M. (1978), Michigan catalogue of two-dimensional spectral types for the HD stars, vol. 4, Ann Arbor: Dept. of Astronomy, University of Michigan, Bibcode:1988mcts.book.....H.
  6. 1 2 Anderson, E.; Francis, Ch. (2012), "XHIP: An extended hipparcos compilation", Astronomy Letters, 38 (5): 331, arXiv: 1108.4971 , Bibcode:2012AstL...38..331A, doi:10.1134/S1063773712050015, S2CID   119257644.
  7. 1 2 Gontcharov, G. A. (November 2006), "Pulkovo Compilation of Radial Velocities for 35495 Hipparcos stars in a common system", Astronomy Letters, 32 (11): 759–771, arXiv: 1606.08053 , Bibcode:2006AstL...32..759G, doi:10.1134/S1063773706110065, S2CID   119231169.
  8. 1 2 3 Hockey, M. S. (1969), "Spectrophotometric observations of the magnetic variable HD 125248", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 142 (4): 543, Bibcode:1969MNRAS.142..543H, doi: 10.1093/mnras/142.4.543 .
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Rusomarov, N.; et al. (April 2016), "Magnetic Doppler imaging of the chemically peculiar star HD 125248", Astronomy & Astrophysics, 588: 20, arXiv: 1601.00349 , Bibcode:2016A&A...588A.138R, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201527719, S2CID   62774028, A138.
  10. 1 2 Shulyak, D.; et al. (2014), "Interferometry of chemically peculiar stars: Theoretical predictions versus modern observing facilities", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 443 (2): 1629, arXiv: 1406.6093 , Bibcode:2014MNRAS.443.1629S, doi: 10.1093/mnras/stu1259 , S2CID   96452769.
  11. Royer, F.; et al. (October 2002), "Rotational velocities of A-type stars in the northern hemisphere. II. Measurement of v sin i", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 393 (3): 897–911, arXiv: astro-ph/0205255 , Bibcode:2002A&A...393..897R, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20020943, S2CID   14070763.
  12. "CS Vir", SIMBAD , Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg , retrieved 2022-06-06.
  13. Eggleton, P. P.; Tokovinin, A. A. (September 2008), "A catalogue of multiplicity among bright stellar systems", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 389 (2): 869–879, arXiv: 0806.2878 , Bibcode:2008MNRAS.389..869E, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.13596.x , S2CID   14878976.
  14. Morgan, W. W. (July 1931), "Studies in Peculiar Stellar Spectra. II. The Spectrum of B. D. 18°3789", Astrophysical Journal, 74: 24, Bibcode:1931ApJ....74...24M, doi:10.1086/143322.
  15. Deutsch, Armin J. (March 1947), "A Study of the Spectrum Variables of Type A", Astrophysical Journal, 105: 283, Bibcode:1947ApJ...105..283D, doi: 10.1086/144904 .
  16. Babcock, Horace W. (October 1947), "The Reversing Magnetic Field of BD-18°3789", Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 59 (350): 260, Bibcode:1947PASP...59..260B, doi: 10.1086/125963 , S2CID   121887424.
  17. Stibbs, D. W. N. (1950), "A study of the spectrum and magnetic variable star HD 125248", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 110 (4): 395, Bibcode:1950MNRAS.110..395S, doi: 10.1093/mnras/110.4.395 .
  18. "Light Curve", Hipparcos ESA, ESA, retrieved 17 February 2022.
  19. Stibbs, D. W. N. (February 4, 1950). "A Light Curve for the Magnetic Variable Star HD 125248". Nature. 165: 195. doi:10.1038/165195a0 . Retrieved 20 August 2025.

Further reading