Beta Muscae, Latinized from β Muscae, is a binary star in the southern circumpolar constellation of Musca. With a combined apparent visual magnitude of 3.07,[2] it is the second brightest star (or star system) in the constellation. Judging by the parallax results, it is located at a distance of roughly 340 ± 13 light-years (105 ± 4 parsecs) from the Earth.[1]
This is a binary star system with a period of about 194 years at an orbital eccentricity of 0.6.[6] As of 2007, the two stars had an angular separation of 1.206 arcseconds at a position angle of 35°.[7] The components are main sequence stars of similar size and appearance. The primary component, β Muscae A, has an apparent magnitude of 3.51, a stellar classification of B2 V,[2] and about 7.35 times the Sun's mass.[7] The secondary component, β Muscae B, has an apparent magnitude of 4.01, a stellar classification of B3 V,[2] and is about 6.40 times the mass of the Sun.[7]
This is a confirmed member of the Scorpius–Centaurus association,[2][7] which is a group of stars with similar ages, locations, and trajectories through space, implying that they formed together in the same molecular cloud. Beta Muscae is considered a runaway star system as it has a high peculiar velocity of 43.9 km s−1 relative to the normal galactic rotation. Runaway stars can be produced through several means, such as through an encounter with another binary star system. Binary systems form a relatively small fraction of the total population of runaway stars.[11]
References
- ^ a b c d e f 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
- ^ a b c d e f 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
- ^ a b Gutierrez-Moreno, Adelina; Moreno, Hugo (June 1968), "A Photometric Investigation of the Scorpio-Centaurus Association", Astrophysical Journal Supplement, 15: 459, Bibcode:1968ApJS...15..459G, doi:10.1086/190168
- ^ Wilson, Ralph Elmer (1953), "General Catalogue of Stellar Radial Velocities", Carnegie Institute Washington D.C. Publication, Washington: Carnegie Institution of Washington, Bibcode:1953GCRV..C......0W.
- ^ Anderson, E.; Francis, Ch. (2012), "XHIP: An extended hipparcos compilation", Astronomy Letters, 38 (5): 331, arXiv:1108.4971, Bibcode:2012AstL...38..331A, doi:10.1134/S1063773712050015, S2CID 119257644.
- ^ a b "Sixth Catalog of Orbits of Visual Binary Stars", U.S. Naval Observatory, archived from the original on 2009-04-12, retrieved 2008-06-22
- ^ a b c d e f Kouwenhoven, M. B. N.; Brown, A. G. A.; Portegies Zwart, S. F.; Kaper, L. (October 2007), "The primordial binary population. II. Recovering the binary population for intermediate mass stars in Scorpius OB2", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 474 (1): 77–104, arXiv:0707.2746, Bibcode:2007A&A...474...77K, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20077719, S2CID 15750945
- ^ a b c d e f "Beta Muscae", stars.astro.illinois.edu, retrieved 2025-07-13.
- ^ Tetzlaff, N.; Neuhäuser, R.; Hohle, M. M. (January 2011), "A catalogue of young runaway Hipparcos stars within 3 kpc from the Sun", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 410 (1): 190–200, arXiv:1007.4883, Bibcode:2011MNRAS.410..190T, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.17434.x, S2CID 118629873
- ^ "CCDM J12463-6806AB -- Double or multiple star", SIMBAD, Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg, retrieved 2012-01-20
- ^ Hoogerwerf, R.; de Bruijne, J. H. J.; de Zeeuw, P. T. (January 2001), "On the origin of the O and B-type stars with high velocities. II. Runaway stars and pulsars ejected from the nearby young stellar groups", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 365 (2): 49–77, arXiv:astro-ph/0010057, Bibcode:2001A&A...365...49H, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20000014, S2CID 18970167
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