This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (June 2013) |
Observation data Epoch J2000 Equinox J2000 | |
---|---|
Constellation | Cetus |
Right ascension | 01h 29m 31.1311s[1] |
Declination | −16° 00′ 45.496″[1] |
Apparent magnitude (V) | 11.642[2] |
Astrometry | |
Proper motion (μ) | RA: 11.745[1] mas/yr Dec.: −42.709[1] mas/yr |
Parallax (π) | 0.4806 ± 0.0462 mas[1] |
Distance | 6,800 ± 700 ly (2,100 ± 200 pc) |
Other designations | |
BD−16° 251, CS31082-001, Cayrel's Star | |
Database references | |
SIMBAD | data |
BPS CS31082-0001, named Cayrel's Star /keɪˈrɛlz/,[3] is an old Population II star located in a distance of 2.1 kpc[1] in the galactic halo. It belongs to the class of ultra-metal-poor stars (metallicity [Fe/H] = -2.9), specifically the very rare subclass of neutron-capture enhanced stars. It was discovered by Tim C. Beers and collaborators with the Curtis Schmidt telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile and analyzed by Roger Cayrel and collaborators. They used the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the European Southern Observatory in Paranal, Chile for high-resolution optical spectroscopy to determine elemental abundances. The thorium-232 to uranium-238 ratio was used to determine the age. It is estimated to be about 12.5 billion years old, making it one of the oldest known.
Compared to other ultra-metal-poor, r-process enriched stars (as CS22892-052, BD +17° 3248, HE 1523-0901) CS31082-001 has higher abundances of the actinides (Th, U), but a surprisingly low Pb abundance.