119 Tauri

Approximately 50,000 L ☉

119 Tauri, also known as CE Tauri, is about 2,000 light years distant red supergiant of spectral type M2, it is part of the constellation Taurus (Taurus ).

Visual appearance

Due to the low surface temperature of about 3,400 Kelvin 119 Tauri appears reddish. With a striking high B - V color index of 2.06 shows 119 Tauri an exceptional reddish color. Only μ Cephei, Herschel's " Garnet Star " has a star that is visible to the naked eye, an even higher color index. Other very red stars such as R Leporis or La Superba (Y CVn ) are visible because of their variable brightness is not always to the naked eye.

Designations

" 119 Tauri " is the Flamsteed designation of the star. The British astronomer John Flamsteed numbered the naked- eye stars ascending according to their right ascension, therefore, the right ascension of 119 Tauri is higher than that of the main star of Taurus, Aldebaran (87 Tau ).

The designation " CE Tauri " follows the rules for naming variable stars: The first part of the name "CE " indicates that 119 Tauri 144th variable star that was discovered in the constellation Taurus; the second part of the name " Tauri " is the genitive of the Latin name of the constellation Taurus ( Latin for ' bull ').

Position

119 Tauri is part of Taurus (Latin taurus), a constellation of the ecliptic, which can be observed both from the North, and from the southern hemisphere of Earth. This constellation is seen from the Earth, on the side facing away from the galactic center, which is Sagittarius (Latin Sagittarius ) is in the constellation. The light of 119 Tauri is surrounding by him, or present between him and the sun dust clouds, including the dust clouds of the Taurus - Auriga complex, weakened by 0.8 mag. To Befände no dust between the sun and 119 Tauri, the supergiant would be a star near the border with the third size and would appear twice as bright in the sky, similar to the apparent brightness of ε Tauri.

Distance

The temperature measured by space telescope Hipparcos parallax yields a value of about 1800 light years for the removal of the star. The specified measurement uncertainty only allows but to determine the value to within a few hundred light-years. If the distance are at the upper limit of the measurement uncertainty, it would be at 119 Tauri one of the largest and most luminous stars in the Milky Way. If the lower limit is correct, there should be an ordinary red giant.

Proper motion

119 Tauri is one of the outlying regions of our galaxy, those areas in which many open clusters like the Pleiades, and dark clouds are found. It has a very similar proper motion, among other things, as the adjacent blue giant 120 Tauri.

Physical Properties

The physical values ​​of the supergiants are as common in heavy stars, very uncertain and therefore can not be clearly defined.

119 Tauri is a giant star and is divided into the luminosity class Ib due to its luminosity in the Hertzsprung -Russell diagram. He belongs to the spectral class M, but one with M2 at an earlier subtype and is therefore not counted among the cool supergiants like V838 Monocerotis. The difference of the different spectral classes comes through to the sun ( 5860 K) concluded cooler surface temperature of about 3450 Kelvin.

In its physical properties has 119 Tauri some similarity with Betelgeuse. Its radius is also estimated to be 600 solar radii, which corresponds to a diameter of rounded 835 million kilometers, or 5.6 AU. Would be 119 Tauri in the center of the solar system, it would extend Mars on the orbit of the planet and fill more than 50% of Jupiter's distance from the Sun. The luminosity of this star is estimated to be 50,000 times the sun.

The apparent brightness of 119 Tauri changed to 0.3 like a semi-regular period ( type SRc ). Translated into our solar system would include even the orbit of the planet Jupiter at its greatest extent with the star.

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