HD 140283

HD 140283

DSS image of HD 140283
Observation data
Epoch J2000.0      Equinox J2000.0
Constellation Libra[1]
Right ascension 15h 43m 03.09712s[2]
Declination −10° 56′ 00.5957″[2]
Apparent magnitude (V) 7.205±0.02[1]
Characteristics
Evolutionary stage Halo subgiant[3]
Spectral type G0IV-V m-5[4]
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)−169.00±0.2[citation needed] km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: −1115.141[2] mas/yr
Dec.: −303.573[2] mas/yr
Parallax (π)16.2672 ± 0.0260 mas[2]
Distance200.5 ± 0.3 ly
(61.47 ± 0.10 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)+3.377[1]
Details
Mass0.81±0.05[5] M☉
Radius2.04±0.04[6] R☉
Luminosity4.82±0.27[6] L☉
Surface gravity (log g)3.6[6] cgs
Temperature5,787±48[6] K
Metallicity [Fe/H]−2.40±0.10[1] dex
Rotational velocity (v sin i)≤ 3.9[3] km/s
Age12±0.05[5] Gyr
Other designations
BD−10 4149, GJ 1195, HIP 76976, SAO 159459[7]
Database references
SIMBADdata
ARICNSdata

HD 140283 (also known as the Methuselah star) is a metal-poor subgiant star about 200 light years away from the Earth in the constellation Libra, near the boundary with Ophiuchus in the Milky Way Galaxy. Its apparent magnitude is 7.205, so it can be seen with binoculars. It is one of the oldest stars known.

HD 140283's light is somewhat blueshifted as it is moving toward rather than away from the Earth and it has been known to astronomers for over a century as a high-velocity star based on its proper motion. An early spectroscopic analysis by Joseph W. Chamberlain and Lawrence Aller revealed it to have a substantially lower metal content than the Sun.[8] Modern spectroscopic analyses find an iron content about a factor of 250 lower than that of the Sun. It is one of the closest metal-poor (population II) stars to Earth.

The star was already known by 1912 when W. S. Adams measured its astrometry using a spectrograph in the Mount Wilson Observatory.[9]

  1. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference arxiv was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c d e Vallenari, A.; et al. (Gaia collaboration) (2023). "Gaia Data Release 3. Summary of the content and survey properties". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 674: A1. arXiv:2208.00211. Bibcode:2023A&A...674A...1G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202243940. S2CID 244398875. Gaia DR3 record for this source at VizieR.
  3. ^ a b A. J. Gallagher; et al. (2010). "The barium isotopic mixture for the metal-poor subgiant star HD 140283". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 523: A24. arXiv:1008.3541. Bibcode:2010A&A...523A..24G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201014970. S2CID 5920058.
  4. ^ Gray, R.O. (1989). "The extension of the MK spectral classification system to the intermediate population II F type stars". Astronomical Journal. 98 (3): 1049–1062. Bibcode:1989AJ.....98.1049G. doi:10.1086/115195.
  5. ^ a b Jiangling Tang; Meredith Joyce (2021). "Revised Best Estimates for the Age and Mass of the Methuselah Star HD 140283 Using MESA and Interferometry and Implications for 1D Convection". Research Notes of the AAS. 5 (5): 117. arXiv:2105.11311. Bibcode:2021RNAAS...5..117T. doi:10.3847/2515-5172/ac01ca. S2CID 235166094. 117.
  6. ^ a b c d Karovicova, I.; White, T.R.; Nordlander, T.; Lind, K.; Casagrande, L.; Ireland, M.J.; Huber, D.; Creevey, O.; Mourard, D.; Schaefer, G.H.; Gilmore, G.; Chiavassa, A.; Wittkowski, M.; Jofré, P.; Heiter, U.; Thévenin, F.; Asplund, M. (2018). "Accurate effective temperatures of the metal-poor benchmark stars HD 140283, HD 122563, and HD 103095 from CHARA interferometry". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 475 (1): L81. arXiv:1801.03274. Bibcode:2018MNRAS.475L..81K. doi:10.1093/mnrasl/sly010.
  7. ^ "HD 140283". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  8. ^ J. W. Chamberlain; L. H. Aller (1951). "The atmospheres of A type subdwarfs and 95 Leonis". Astrophysical Journal. 114: 52. Bibcode:1951ApJ...114...52C. doi:10.1086/145451.
  9. ^ Adams, W. S. (1912). "The three-prism stellar spectrograph of the Mount Wilson Solar Observatory". Astrophys. J. 35: 163–182. Bibcode:1912ApJ....35..163A. doi:10.1086/141924.