Xi Ursae Majoris

Starbox begin
name=Xi Ursae Majoris Starbox observe
epoch=J2000
ra=11^h 18^m 11.0^s
dec=+31° 31′ 45″
appmag_v=3.79 (4.32/4.84)
constell=Ursa Major Starbox character
class=G0 Ve/G0 Ve
b-v=0.59
u-b=0.04
variable=? Starbox astrometry
radial_v=-15.0
prop_mo_ra=-429
prop_mo_dec=-587
parallax=119.51
p_error=0.79
absmag_v=4.71/5.23 Starbox detail
mass=1.05/0.90
radius=1.01/0.78
luminosity=1.1/0.67
temperature=~5,900/5,900
metal=0.98/0.76
rotation=3 km/s
age=6 × 10⁹ Starbox visbin
name=Xi Ursae Majoris Bb
period=59.84
axis=2.53
eccentricity=0.414
inclination=122.65
node=101.59 (ascending)
periastron=1935.17 Starbox catalog
names=Alula Australis, ξ UMa, 53 UMa, Gl 423, HR 4374/4375, BD +32°2132, HD 98230/98231, LHS 2390/2391, LTT 13045, GCTP 2625.00, SAO 62484, LFT 790, ADS 8119, CCDM 11182+3132, Σ 1523, HIP 55203.

Xi Ursae Majoris (ξ UMa / ξ Ursae Majoris) is a star system in the constellation Ursa Major. It also has the traditional name Alula Australis (The word Alula comes from an Arabic phrase meaning ‘first leap’; the distinctions ‘northern’ (Borealis) and ‘southern’ (Australis) are added in Latin).

On May 2, 1780, Sir William Herschel discovered that this was a binary star system, making it the first such system ever discovered. It was the first visual double star for which an orbit was calculated, when it was computed by Félix Savary in 1828.

The system is composed of a double star whose two components are yellow G-type main sequence dwarfs. The brighter component, Xi Ursae Majoris A, has a mean apparent magnitude of +4.41. It is classified as an RS Canum Venaticorum type variable star and its brightness varies by 0.01 magnitudes. The companion star, Xi Ursae Majoris B has an apparent magnitude of +4.87. The orbital period of the two stars is 59.84 years, and they are currently separated by 1.2 arcseconds, or at least 10 Astronomical Units.

Each component of this double star is itself a spectroscopic binary. B's binary companion, denoted Xi Ursae Majoris Bb, is unresolved, but the binary star is known to have an orbital period of 3.98 days.

External links

* [http://www.solstation.com/orbits/aluaussys.htm Xi Ursae Majoris system at SolStation.com]
* [http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/alulaaus.html Alula Australis] by Dr. Jim Kaler.