| Observation data Epoch J2000 Equinox J2000 | |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Auriga [2] |
| Right ascension | 04h 58m 46.2654s [3] |
| Declination | +29° 50′ 36.990″ [3] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 7.62 [4] |
| Characteristics | |
| Spectral type | A3psh3+ [5] |
| Astrometry | |
| Proper motion (μ) | RA: 4.793 [3] mas/yr Dec.: -25.348 [3] mas/yr |
| Parallax (π) | 6.1815±0.0761 mas [3] |
| Distance | 528 ± 6 ly (162 ± 2 pc) |
| Absolute magnitude (MV) | +2.13 [2] |
| Details | |
| Mass | 1.7-2.3 [6] M☉ |
| Radius | 1.67 [5] R☉ |
| Luminosity | 11.2 [5] L☉ |
| Temperature | 8250 [4] K |
| Rotational velocity (v sin i) | 102.0 ± 5.0 [7] km/s |
| Age | 6–7.1 [6] Myr |
| Other designations | |
| BD+29 774, HD 31648, HIP 23143, SAO 76866, GSC 01844-00503, 2MASS J04584626+2950370 [8] | |
| Database references | |
| SIMBAD | data |
MWC 480 is a single [5] star, about 500 light-years away in the constellation of Auriga. It is located in the Taurus-Auriga Star-Forming Region. [9] The name refers to the Mount Wilson Catalog of B and A stars with bright hydrogen lines in their spectra. [10] With an apparent magnitude of 7.62, [4] it is too faint to be seen with the naked eye.
MWC 480 is a young Herbig Ae/Be star, a class of young stars with spectral types of A or B, but are quite young and are still not main-sequence stars. MWC 480 is about 7 million years old. [6] It is about twice the mass of the Sun, [6] and is estimated to be about 1.67 solar radii. [5]
MWC 480 has X-ray emissions typical of a pre-main-sequence Herbig Ae/Be star but with an order of magnitude more photoelectric absorption. [5] It has a gas-dust envelope and is surrounded by a protoplanetary disc that is about 11% the mass of the Sun. [6] The disc is inclined about 37° towards the line of sight, on a position angle of about 148°. [6] Astronomers using the ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) have found that the protoplanetary disc surrounding MWC 480 contains large amounts of methyl cyanide (CH3CN), a complex carbon-based molecule. [11] Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) has also been detected in the disc. [12] No signs of planet formation have yet been detected.
In 2021, an imaging of the gas flows in the circumstellar disk has suggested a presence of shrouded Jupiter-mass planet about 245 AU from the star. [13]