Nu Boötis

The Bayer designation Nu Boötis (ν Boo / ν Boötis) is shared by two star systems, in the constellation Boötes:

Location of the ν Boötis pair (circled)
Location of the ν Boötis pair (circled)
ν Boötis in optical light. ν2 is the blue-white star to the left. ν1 is the orange star to the right.

They are separated by 0.17° on the sky. They have almost identical visual magnitudes, but contrasting colours: ν1 is a yellow giant star, while ν2 is a close binary with two white main sequence stars.

Both stars were members of asterism 七公 (Qī Gōng), Seven Excellencies, Heavenly Market enclosure.[1]

Ptolemy considered Nu Boötis to be shared by Hercules, and Bayer assigned it a designation in both constellations: Nu Boötis (ν Boo) and Psi Herculis (ψ Her). When the modern constellation boundaries were fixed in 1930, the latter designation dropped from use.[2]

References
  1. (in Chinese) AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) 天文教育資訊網 2006 年 6 月 26 日
  2. "Bayer's Uranometria and Bayer letters". Archived from the original on 2019-03-15. Retrieved 2012-05-18.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.