Zeta Aurigae

Zeta Aurigae (Aur)

The zeta Aurigae star system is a 6th magnitude system with a period of 2.7 years. It consists of a very hot and luminous blue star plus an even more luminous orange super giant star. Because of the vast difference in sizes, only the primary eclipse where the orange super giant passes in front of the smaller blue star, is observable. Along with the other star systems listed here, the zeta Aurigae system allows observations of the chromospheric, or outermost layers, of the orange super giant star. By careful observations during the ingress and egress phase of the eclipse, information about the super giant's atmosphere can be gained.

As might be expected, the UBV observations of the eclipse will produce a small change in the "V" (0.1 to 0.2 magnitudes) but nearly 2 magnitudes of change in the "U" band.

Reference: Darling, D., 1983, Astronomy; The Curious Case of Zeta Aurigae, 66-70, March 1983

ZETA AURIGAE

Zeta Aurigae
8 Aurigae
HR1612
HD32068
Name: Sadatoni
Part of "The Kids"

R.A. (2000) 05h 02m 28.6s
DEC. (2000) +41d 4' 33"

5.34

Distance: 1300 light years (400 pc)

Epoch: JD 2,438,386.525
Period: 972.164 days 2.7 years

Secondary Eclipse at Phase: 0.27

Ingress/Egress: 1.5 days
Totality: 37 days

Next Eclipses:
2,453,941.149 * 24 July 2006
2,454,913.313 * 22 March 2009

Secondary Eclipses:
2,454,203.633 * 12 April 2007
2,455,175.797 * 9 December2009

Maximum Separation Date - ?

Comparison Star:
Lambda Aurigae
HR1729
HD34411
SAO40233
R.A. (2000) 05h 19m 08.4s
DEC. (2000) +40d 05' 57"
I= 3.88 R= 4.19
V= 4.71 B= 5.34 U= 5.46