Gamma Aquarii

Gamma Aquarii
Location of γ Aquarii (circled)
Observation data
Epoch J2000      Equinox ICRS
Constellation Aquarius
Right ascension 22h 21m 39.37542s
Declination −01° 23′ 14.4031″
Apparent magnitude (V) 3.849
Characteristics
Spectral type A0 V
U−B color index −0.092
B−V color index −0.060
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)−15.7±0.9 km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: +129.53 mas/yr
Dec.: +7.77 mas/yr
Parallax (π)19.92±1.04 mas
Distance164 ± 9 ly
(50 ± 3 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)+0.10
Details
Aa
Mass2.72±0.04 M☉
Radius2.7 R☉
Surface gravity (log g)3.99±0.14 cgs
Temperature10,637±362 K
Metallicity [Fe/H]+0.30 dex
Rotational velocity (v sin i)80 km/s
Age280±20 Myr
Ab
Mass0.56 M☉
Radius0.5 R☉
Temperature3,900 K
Other designations
Sadalachbia, Sadachbia, Gamma Aqr, γ Aqr, 48 Aquarii, BD−02°5741, FK5 842, HD 212061, HIP 110395, HR 8518, SAO 146044, ADS 15864, WDS J22217-0123A
Database references
SIMBADdata

Gamma Aquarii, or γ Aquarii, is a binary star system in the constellation of Aquarius. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 3.849, making it one of the brighter members of the constellation. Based upon parallax measurements, this star is located at a distance of 164 light-years (50 parsecs). It is drifting closer to Earth with a radial velocity of −16 km/s. It is a candidate member of the Hyades Supercluster.

The two components are designated Gamma Aquarii Aa, formally called Sadachbia /səˈdækbiə/, and Ab.

Nomenclature

γ Aquarii, Latinised to Gamma Aquarii, is the system's Bayer designation. WDS J22217-0123 A is its designation in the Washington Double Star Catalog.

It bore the traditional name Sadachbia, from an Arabic expression سعد الأخبية (sa‘d al-’axbiyah), meaning "luck of the homes (tents)". In the catalogue of stars in the Calendarium of Al Achsasi Al Mouakket, this star was designated Aoul al Achbiya (أول ألأجبية - awwil al ahbiyah), which was translated into Latin as Prima Tabernaculorum, meaning the first of luck of the homes (tents). In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalogue and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN approved the name Sadachbia for the component WDS J22217-0123 Aa on 21 August 2016, and it is now so included in the List of IAU-approved Star Names.

This star, along with Pi Aquarii, Zeta Aquarii and Eta Aquarii, were al Aḣbiyah الأخبية "the Tent".

In Hindi it has been called Satabhishaj or Shatabhisha (a hundred physicians), but this name originally referred to λ Aquarii and its association with this star is likely an error. Equivalent names are Sadhayam in Tamil and Chathayam (written as ചതയം) in Malayalam.[citation needed]

In Chinese, 墳墓 (Fén Mù), meaning Tomb, refers to an asterism consisting of Gamma Aquarii, Zeta Aquarii, Eta Aquarii and Pi Aquarii. Consequently, the Chinese name for Gamma Aquarii itself is 墳墓二 (Fén Mù èr, English: the Second Star of Tomb).

Properties

In 1978 through 1984, H. A. McAlister listed this as a spectroscopic binary star system that is unresolved by speckle interferometry, and it is listed as such in the 1991 revision of the Bright Star Catalogue. In 2008, P. P. Eggleton and A. A. Tokovinin listed it as a single star in their catalogue of multiplicity. However, in 2024, a companion star to Gamma Aquarii was detected by interferometric observations.

The primary is an A-type main sequence star with a stellar classification of A0 V, around 2.7 times larger and more massive than the Sun. It was a candidate Lambda Boötis star, suggesting it may have accreted low-metallicity circumstellar gas some time in the past. But it has since been excluded. The star is spinning relatively rapidly with a projected rotational velocity of 80 km s−1. This value gives a lower bound on the actual azimuthal velocity along the star's equator. The outer atmosphere of Gamma Aquarii is radiating energy at an effective temperature of 10,500 K, which is nearly double the temperature at the surface of the Sun. This heat is what gives Gamma Aquarii the white-hot glow of an A-type star.

The secondary component is a low-mass star which has around 0.56 times the mass and half the radius of the Sun. Its effective temperature of 3,900 K gives it the orange hue typical of late K-type stars. This secondary could explain the X-ray emission detected from this system with the ROSAT X-ray telescope. Located 1.9 astronomical units from each other, both stars take around a year to orbit the system's center of mass.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 van Leeuwen, F. (November 2007). "Validation of the new Hipparcos reduction". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 474 (2): 653–664. arXiv:0708.1752. Bibcode:2007A&A...474..653V. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20078357. S2CID 18759600.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Cousins, A. W. J. (1984), "Standardization of Broadband Photometry of Equatorial Standards", South African Astronomical Observatory Circulars, 8: 59, Bibcode:1984SAAOC...8...59C.
  3. 1 2 Cowley, A.; et al. (April 1969), "A study of the bright A stars. I. A catalogue of spectral classifications", Astronomical Journal, 74: 375–406, Bibcode:1969AJ.....74..375C, doi:10.1086/110819.
  4. 1 2 Gontcharov, G. A. (November 2006), "Pulkovo Compilation of Radial Velocities for 35495 Hipparcos stars in a common system", Astronomy Letters, 32 (11): 759–771, arXiv:1606.08053, Bibcode:2006AstL...32..759G, doi:10.1134/S1063773706110065, S2CID 119231169.
  5. 1 2 Eggen, Olin J. (July 1998), "The Age Range of Hyades Stars", The Astronomical Journal, 116 (1): 284–292, Bibcode:1998AJ....116..284E, doi:10.1086/300413.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Waisberg, Idel; et al. (August 1, 2024), "Hidden Companions to Intermediate-mass Stars. XXI. Discovery of a 0.5 M☉, 1.5 au Companion to Sadachbia = Gamma Aquarii", Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society, 8 (8): 197, Bibcode:2024RNAAS...8..197W, doi:10.3847/2515-5172/ad6b26, ISSN 2515-5172.
  7. 1 2 David, Trevor J.; Hillenbrand, Lynne A. (2015), "The Ages of Early-Type Stars: Strömgren Photometric Methods Calibrated, Validated, Tested, and Applied to Hosts and Prospective Hosts of Directly Imaged Exoplanets", The Astrophysical Journal, 804 (2): 146, arXiv:1501.03154, Bibcode:2015ApJ...804..146D, doi:10.1088/0004-637X/804/2/146, S2CID 33401607. Vizier catalog entry
  8. 1 2 Baschek, Bodo; Searle, Leonard (February 1969), "The Chemical Composition of the Lambda Bootis Stars", Astrophysical Journal, 155: 537, Bibcode:1969ApJ...155..537B, doi:10.1086/149890.
  9. 1 2 Royer, F.; et al. (February 2007), "Rotational velocities of A-type stars. III. Velocity distributions", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 463 (2): 671–682, arXiv:astro-ph/0610785, Bibcode:2007A&A...463..671R, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20065224, S2CID 18475298.
  10. ↑ "gam Aqr", SIMBAD, Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg.
  11. 1 2 "Naming Stars". IAU.org. Archived from the original on 10 March 2025. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  12. ↑ Knobel, E. B. (June 1895), "Al Achsasi Al Mouakket, on a catalogue of stars in the Calendarium of Mohammad Al Achsasi Al Mouakket", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 55: 429–438, Bibcode:1895MNRAS..55..429K, doi:10.1093/mnras/55.8.429.
  13. ↑ IAU Working Group on Star Names (WGSN), International Astronomical Union, archived from the original on 10 June 2016, retrieved 22 May 2016.
  14. ↑ Davis Jr., G. A. (October 1944), "The Pronunciations, Derivations, and Meanings of a Selected List of Star Names", Popular Astronomy, 52 (3): 12, Bibcode:1944PA.....52....8D
  15. ↑ Allen, Richard Hinckley (1936) [1899]. Star Names and Their Meanings. New York: G. E. Stechert. p. 52. OCLC 9825499.
  16. ↑ Gamma Aqr as Aoul al Achbiya or Prima Tabernaculorum (the first of luck of the homes or tents), Pi Aquarii as Wasat al Achbiya or Media Tabernaculorum (the middle of luck of the homes or tents) and Zeta Aquarii as Achr al Achbiya or Postrema Tabernaculorum (the end of luck of the homes or tents). Eta Aquarii should be designated as al Achbiya consistently, but it was not designated as the Arabic name except the name Hydria (Greek) or Deli (Hebrew)
  17. ↑ "Shatabhisha". All Skies Encyclopaedia. IAU Working Group on Star Names. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
  18. ↑ (in Chinese) 中國星座神話, written by 陳久金. Published by 台灣書房出版有限公司, 2005, ISBN 978-986-7332-25-7.
  19. ↑ (in Chinese) 香港太空館 - 研究資源 - 亮星中英對照表 Archived August 18, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, Hong Kong Space Museum. Accessed on line November 23, 2010.
  20. ↑ McAlister, H. A. (June 1978), "Binary stars unresolved by speckle interferometry", Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 90: 288–296, Bibcode:1978PASP...90..288M, doi:10.1086/130327.
  21. ↑ Hartkopf, W. I.; McAlister, H. A. (January 1984), "Binary stars unresolved by speckle interferometry. III", Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 96: 105–116, Bibcode:1984PASP...96..105H, doi:10.1086/131309, S2CID 122218502.
  22. ↑ Hoffleit, Dorrit (1991), The Bright Star Catalogue (5h rev. ed.), Yale University Observatory, Bibcode:1964cbs..book.....H.
  23. ↑ Eggleton, P. P.; Tokovinin, A. A. (September 2008), "A catalogue of multiplicity among bright stellar systems", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 389 (2): 869–879, arXiv:0806.2878, Bibcode:2008MNRAS.389..869E, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.13596.x, S2CID 14878976.
  24. ↑ King, J. R. (July 1994), "Accretion from Circumstellar Discs and the Lambda-Bootis Phenomenon", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 269 (1): 209–217, Bibcode:1994MNRAS.269..209K, doi:10.1093/mnras/269.1.209.
  25. ↑ Cheng, Kwang-Ping; et al. (January 2017), "Utilizing Synthetic Visible Spectra to Explore the Physical Basis for the Classification of Lambda Boötis Stars", The Astronomical Journal, 153 (1): 15, Bibcode:2017AJ....153...39C, doi:10.3847/1538-3881/153/1/39, 39.
  26. 1 2 "The Colour of Stars", Australia Telescope, Outreach and Education, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, December 21, 2004, archived from the original on 2012-03-18, retrieved 2012-01-16.