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Sigma Octantis
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Polaris Australis)

Sigma Octantis
 Location of σ Octantis (circled)

Observation data
Epoch J2000.0 Equinox J2000.0 (ICRS)

Constellation Octans

Right ascension 21h 08m 46.86357s[1]

Declination −88° 57′ 23.3983″[1]

Apparent magnitude (V) 5.47[2]

Characteristics

Spectral type F0 IV[3]

U−B color index +0.13[2]

B−V color index +0.26[2]

Variable type δ Sct[4]

Astrometry

Radial velocity (Rv) +11.9[5] km/s

Proper motion (μ) RA: +26.323[1] mas/yr
Dec.: +4.721[1] mas/yr

Parallax (π) 11.1005 ± 0.0616 mas[1]

Distance 294 ± 2 ly
(90.1 ± 0.5 pc)

Absolute magnitude (MV) 0.86±0.09[6]

Details

Mass 1.59[7] M☉

Radius 4.4[1] R☉

Luminosity 44[1] L☉

Surface gravity (log g) 3.71[7] cgs

Temperature 7,415±252[7] K

Metallicity [Fe/H] −0.5[1] dex

Rotational velocity (v sin i) 145[4] km/s

Age 912[7] Myr

Other designations

Polaris
Australis, σ Oct, CPD−89°47, FK5 923, HD 177482, HIP 10
4382, HR 7228, SAO 258857[8]

Database references

SIMBAD data
Sigma Octantis is a solitary[9] star in the Octans constellation that forms the pole
star of the Southern Hemisphere. Its name is also written as σ Octantis, abbreviated
as Sigma Oct or σ Oct, and it is officially named Polaris Australis (/poʊˈlɛərɪs ɔː
ˈstreɪlɪs/).[10] The star is positioned one degree away from the southern celestial
pole of the Southern Hemisphere, lying in nearly opposite direction to the North
Star on the celestial sphere.

Located approximately 294 light-years from Earth, it is classified as a subgiant with

a spectral type of F0 IV. Sigma Octantis has an apparent magnitude of 5.5, but is
slightly variable and is classified as a Delta Scuti variable.

Nomenclature[edit]

A light curve for Sigma Octantis, plotted

from TESS data [11]

σ Octantis (Latinised to Sigma Octantis) is the star's Bayer designation.

As the southern hemisphere's pole star it bore the name Polaris Australis, first
applied in the 1700s.[12] In 2016, the IAU organized a Working Group on Star
Names (WGSN)[13] to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN
approved the name Polaris Australis for this star on 5 September 2017 and it is now
so included in the List of IAU-approved Star Names.[10] It is the southernmost named
star.

Properties[edit]
With a spectral class of F0IV,[3] Sigma Octantis appears to be a subgiant, although it
has also been classified as F0III.[14] Evolutionary models place it at the very end of
its main sequence life with an age of about 900 million years.[1][7] It has expanded
somewhat to a size 4.4 that of the Sun and emits 44 times as much electromagnetic
radiation from its photosphere at an effective temperature of 7,415 K.

Sigma Octantis is a Delta Scuti variable, varying by about 0.03 magnitudes every
2.33 hours.[4] It is thought to pulsate only in the fundamental mode.[15]

Southern pole star[edit]

Sigma Octantis is the current southern pole star, whose counterpart is Polaris, the
current North Star. To an observer in the southern hemisphere, Sigma Octantis
appears almost motionless and all the other stars in the Southern sky appear to
rotate around it. It is part of a small "half hexagon" shape. It is slightly more than a
degree away from the true south pole, and the south celestial pole is moving away
from it due to precession of the equinoxes.
 The south celestial pole. The trapezoidal asterism at
the centre includes Sigma Octantis.
At magnitude +5.42, Sigma Octantis is barely visible to the naked eye, making it
unusable for navigation, especially by comparison with the much brighter and more
easily visible Polaris.[16] Because of this, the constellation Crux is often preferred for
determining the position of the South Celestial Pole.[17] Once Sigma Octantis'
approximate position has been determined, either by the major stars in Octans or
using the Southern Cross (Crux) method, it can be positively verified using
an asterism: Sigma, Chi, Tau, and Upsilon Octantis are all stars of around
magnitude 5.6, and form the distinctive shape of a trapezoid.

In astrometrics[edit]
Sigma Octantis was used as a reference to measure the magnitudes of stars in the
southern hemisphere for the 1908 Revised Harvard Photometry catalogue. The Pole
Star and Lambda Ursae Minoris were used for the northern hemisphere. It was then
noted that "Neither of these stars appears to vary perceptibly" but that, due to the
procedures used "if they did, the variation would have no effect on the final
measures."[18]

In culture[edit]
Sigma Octantis is the dimmest star to be represented on a national flag. It appears
on the flag of Brazil, symbolising the Brazilian Federal District.[19]

See also[edit]
 Polar alignment
 Polaris
References[edit]
1. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h i 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.
2. ^ Jump up to:a b c Johnson, H. L.; et al. (1966). "UBVRIJKL photometry of the
bright stars". Communications of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. 4 (99):
99. Bibcode:1966CoLPL...4...99J.
3. ^ Jump up to:a b Houk, Nancy (1975). "Michigan catalogue of two-dimensional
spectral types for the HD stars". University of Michigan Catalogue of Two-
Dimensional Spectral Types for the Hd Stars. Volume I. Declinations -90_ to
-53_Ƒ0. 1. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Dept. of Astronomy, University of
Michigan. Bibcode:1975mcts.book.....H.
4. ^ Jump up to:a b c Rodríguez, E.; et al. (June 2000). "A revised catalogue of δ
Sct stars". Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement. 144 (3): 469–
474. Bibcode:2000A&AS..144..469R. doi:10.1051/aas:2000221. hdl:10261/2
26673.
5. ^ Wilson, Ralph Elmer (1953). "General catalogue of stellar radial
velocities". Washington. Carnegie Institution of Washington:
0. Bibcode:1953GCRV..C......0W.
6. ^ Antonello, E.; Mantegazza, L. (November 1997). "Luminosity and related
parameters of δ Scuti stars from HIPPARCOS parallaxes. General properties
of luminosity". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 327: 240–
244. Bibcode:1997A&A...327..240A.
7. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e David, Trevor J.; Hillenbrand, Lynne A. (2015). "The Ages
of Early-Type Stars: Strömgren Photometric Methods Calibrated, Validated,
Tested, and Applied to Hosts and Prospective Hosts of Directly Imaged
Exoplanets". The Astrophysical Journal. 804 (2):
146. arXiv:1501.03154. Bibcode:2015ApJ...804..146D. doi:10.1088/0004-
637X/804/2/146. S2CID 33401607.
8. ^ "sig Oct". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg.
Retrieved 2017-08-10.
9. ^ 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.
10.^ Jump up to:a b "Naming Stars". IAU.org. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
11.^ "MAST: Barbara A. Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes". Space
Telescope Science Institute. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
12.^ Kaler, James B. (2006). The Hundred Greatest Stars. Springer Science &
Business Media. p. 171. ISBN 0387216251.
13.^ "IAU Working Group on Star Names (WGSN)". Retrieved 22 May 2016.
14.^ Malaroda, S. (August 1975), "Study of the F-type stars. I. MK spectral
types", Astronomical Journal, 80: 637–
641, Bibcode:1975AJ.....80..637M, doi:10.1086/111786.
15.^ Tsvetkov, Ts. G. (1982). "On the Radial Pulsations of the delta Scuti Stars
sigma Octantis and B Octantis". Information Bulletin on Variable Stars. 2084:
1. Bibcode:1982IBVS.2084....1T.
16.^ "Sigma Octantis". Jumk.De. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
17.^ "Finding South". CSIRO. 26 July 2013. Archived from the original on 14
August 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
18.^ Pickering, Edward Charles (1908). "Revised Harvard Photometry". Annals
of the Astronomical Observatory of Harvard College. 50:
2. Bibcode:1908AnHar..50....1P.
19.^ "Astronomy of the Brazilian Flag". FOTW Flags Of The World website.

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 Pole star

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Constellation of Octans
Categories:
 Delta Scuti variables
 F-type subgiants
 Southern pole stars
 Stars with proper names
 Bayer objects
 Octans
 Durchmusterung objects
 Henry Draper Catalogue objects
 Hipparcos objects
 Bright Star Catalogue objects
 This page was last edited on 4 June 2024, at 02:26 (UTC).
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