BPM 37093 - the "diamond" star
Click on image for full size
Image courtesy of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, reproduced with permission.
BPM 37093 - the "diamond" star
|
What's in a Name: |
The 37093rd star in the Bruce Proper Motion catalog. Also known as V*886 Cen, the 886th variable star in the constellation Centaurus. |
|
Claim to Fame: | The most massive pulsating white dwarf currently known, with a
crystal core of carbon and oxygen. A white dwarf is the final state of stars like the
Sun, an exposed core that just slowly cools down over time. These stars begin to pulsate when the surface temperature reaches about 12,000 degrees.
|
|
Type of Star: | Hydrogen-atmosphere variable white dwarf (Spectral Class DAV4.3).
|
|
How Far Away: | 50 light years.
|
|
How Big: | About 1/200 the Sun's radius (0.6 times the Earth's radius), but
nearly the same mass as the Sun!
|
| How Bright: | 1/2000 times the Sun's absolute visual brightness.
|
|
Where to View: | In the constellation Centaurus.
Not visible to the unaided eye.
|
|
When to View: | Best viewed from the Southern hemisphere during March-June.
|
Shop Windows to the Universe Science Store!
The
Summer 2010 issue of The Earth Scientist, available in our
online store, includes articles on rivers and snow, classroom planetariums, satellites and oceanography, hands-on astronomy, and global warming.
You might also be interested in:
In the 1960's, the United States launched some satellites to look for very high energy light, called Gamma Rays. Gamma Rays are produced whenever a nuclear bomb explodes. The satellites found many bursts
...more
During the early 1900's, which is not very long ago, astronomers were unaware that there were other galaxies outside our own Milky Way Galaxy. When they saw a small fuzzy patch in the sky through their
...more
Neutron Stars are the end point of a massive star's life. When a really massive star runs out of nuclear fuel in its core the core begins to collapse under gravity. When the core collapses the entire star
...more
Spiral galaxies may remind you of a pinwheel. They are rotating disks of mostly hydrogen gas, dust and stars. Through a telescope or binoculars, the bright nucleus of the galaxy may be visible but the
...more
When stars like our own sun die they will become white dwarfs. As a star like our sun is running out of fuel in its core it begins to bloat into a red giant. This will happen to our sun in 5 Billion years.
...more
What's in a Name: Arabic for "head of the demon" Claim to Fame: Represents Medusa's eye in Perseus. A special variable star that "winks" every 3 days. Type of Star: Blue-white Main Sequence Star, and
...more
What's in a Name: Nicknamed the "Pup" because it is the companion to Sirius, "the Dog Star" Claim to Fame: Highly compressed white dwarf remnant. Density about 50,000 times that of water. It has approximately
...more
