Eta Virginis

Starbox short
name = η Virginis
epoch = J2000.0
constell = Virgo
ra = 12^h 19^m 54.4^s
dec = −0° 40' 01"
spectral = A2IV
appmag_v = +3.89
dist_ly = 250 ± 16
dist_pc = 77 ± 5
names = Zaniah, Zannakh, 15 Virginis, HR 4689, HD 107259, BD+00 2926, FK5 460, HIP 60129, SAO 138721, GC 16813, CCDM 12199-0040

Eta Virginis (η Vir / η Virginis) is a star in the constellation Virgo. It also has the traditional name Zaniah.

Zaniah is about 204 light years distant from the Sun, and has apparent magnitude +3.9 and is of spectral type A2IV.

Although the star looks single in any telescope lunar occultations have shown this star to be a very close triple star system consisting of two stars only 0.5 AU apart with a third slightly more distant star.

Because Zaniah is near the ecliptic, it can be occulted by the Moon and (very rarely) by planets. The last occultation by a planet took place on September 27, 1843 by Venus, which will occult it again on November 19, 2445.

Etymology

The medieval name Zaniah is from the Arabic زاوية "zāwiyah" "corner".

External links

* [http://www.alcyone.de/SIT/bsc/bsc_search.html Bright Star Catalogue]
* [http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/zaniah.html Zaniah]