| Observation data Epoch J2000 Equinox J2000 | |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Carina |
| Right ascension | 10h 50m 26.300s [2] |
| Declination | −59° 58′ 56.57″ [2] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 7.2 - 8.5 [3] or 6.87 - 7.9 [4] |
| Characteristics | |
| Spectral type | M2Iab [3] |
| Variable type | SRc [3] [4] |
| Astrometry | |
| Radial velocity (Rv) | 0.90±1.8 [5] km/s |
| Proper motion (μ) | RA: −6.466 [2] mas/yr Dec.: +2.322 [2] mas/yr |
| Parallax (π) | 0.4436±0.0220 mas [2] |
| Distance | 7,400 ± 400 ly (2,300 ± 100 pc) |
| Details | |
| Mass | 13 [6] M☉ |
| Radius | 603 [7] R☉ |
| Luminosity | 61,660 [7] L☉ |
| Temperature | 3,660±170 [8] K |
| Other designations | |
| IX Car, CD−59°3368, CPD−59°2775, GSC 08626-01670, HD 94096, HIP 52991, IRAS 10484−5943, 2MASS J10502630−5958563, PPM 339497, SAO 238523, TYC 8626-1670-1 | |
| Database references | |
| SIMBAD | data |
IX Carinae (IX Car) is a red supergiant and pulsating variable star of spectral type M2Iab in the constellation Carina. It is a member of the Carina OB1 association along the Carina Nebula.
In 1948, Daniel Joseph Kelly O'Connell announced that the star is a variable star. [9] IX Carinae is a semiregular variable star, but its properties are poorly defined. Different sources give its brightness range as magnitude 7.2 to 8.5. [3] or 6.87 to 7.9. [4] The International Variable Star Index finds a period of approximately 384 days from ASAS-3 and visual observations, but also gives a possible period of 108 days. [4] Another analysis finds a primary period of 408±50 d and a longer secondary period of 4,400±2,000 d. [10] [3]
The physical characteristics of IX Carinae are also only known approximately, partly because of an uncertain distance. The effective temperature is around 3,600 K , [11] [8] while its bolometric luminosity is between 34,000 L☉ [12] and 134,000 L☉. [11] It is one of the largest stars with a radius of approximately 600 R☉ (420,000,000 km ; 2.8 au ). If placed at the center of the Solar System, it would extend close to the orbit of the outer asteroid belt. [7]
IX Carinae has been listed as a candidate supernova close enough to Earth that pre-collapse neutrinos could be detected, allowing for observations of the star to be made from before the supernova explosion. [13]
