HD 122563

HD 122563
Observation data
Epoch J2000      Equinox J2000
Constellation Boötes
Right ascension 14h 02m 31.84546s[1]
Declination +09° 41′ 09.9479″[1]
Apparent magnitude (V) 6.20[2]
Characteristics
Spectral type F8 IV[3]
U−B color index +0.38[2]
B−V color index +0.90[2]
V−R color index 0.50
R−I color index 0.58
Variable type Suspected[4]
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)–26.39[5] km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: –189.86[1] mas/yr
Dec.: –69.67[1] mas/yr
Parallax (π)4.22 ± 0.35[1] mas
Distance770 ± 60 ly
(240 ± 20 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)–0.948[3]
Details
Surface gravity (log g)1.19[3] cgs
Temperature4,589[3] K
Metallicity [Fe/H]–2.65[3] dex
Other designations
BD+10 2617, HIP 68594, HD 122563, HR 5270, SAO 120251
Database references
SIMBADdata

HD 122563 is an extremely metal poor red giant star, and the brightest metal poor star in the sky. Its low heavy element content was first recognized by spectroscopic analysis in 1963.[6] For more than twenty years it was the most metal-poor star known, being more metal-poor than any known globular cluster, and it is the most accessible example of an extreme Population II or Halo star.

As the most extreme metal-poor star known, HD 122563's composition was crucial in constraining theories for galactic chemical evolution; in particular, its composition peculiarities provided signposts for understanding the accumulation of heavy elements by stellar nucleosynthesis in the Galaxy. For example, it has an excess of oxygen, [O/Fe] = +0.6,[7] while the proportions of strontium, yttrium, zirconium, barium and the lanthanide elements suggest that the s-process has made no contribution to the material present in the star: in HD 122563, all these elements are products of the r-process instead.[8] The implication is that the star formed at a time and place where there had not been enough time for any previous generation of stars to have produced s-process elements, though there was r-process material present.

Spectral type

The spectral type of HD 122563 is one of characteristics which initially indicated its peculiarity. In the Bright Star Catalogue its spectral type is given as F8 IV, but its color index indicates a surface temperature much cooler than an F8 star should be. Because the spectral type of a star in the A to K star regime is judged by the relative strengths of the absorption lines of the metals relative to the hydrogen Balmer lines, the extreme metal deficiency results in weak metal lines and yields a spuriously early spectral type. If the spectral classification is performed including the metal deficiency, the result is a rather later type, G8 II Fe-5.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 van Leeuwen, F. (November 2007), "Validation of the new Hipparcos reduction", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 474 (2): 653–664, arXiv:0708.1752Freely accessible, Bibcode:2007A&A...474..653V, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20078357
  2. 1 2 3 Johnson, H. L.; et al. (1966). "UBVRIJKL photometry of the bright stars". Communications of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. 4 (99). Bibcode:1966CoLPL...4...99J.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Soubiran, C.; et al. (2008), "Vertical distribution of Galactic disk stars. IV. AMR and AVR from clump giants", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 480 (1): 91–101, arXiv:0712.1370Freely accessible, Bibcode:2008A&A...480...91S, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20078788
  4. ↑ NSV 6526
  5. ↑ Bonifacio, P.; et al. (July 2009), "First stars XII. Abundances in extremely metal-poor turnoff stars, and comparison with the giants", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 501 (2): 519–530, arXiv:0903.4174Freely accessible, Bibcode:2009A&A...501..519B, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/200810610
  6. ↑ Wallerstein, G.; Greenstein, J. L.; Parker, R.; Helfer, H. L.; Aller, L. H. (1963), "Red Giants with Extreme Metal Deficiencies", Astrophysical Journal, 137: 280–300, Bibcode:1963ApJ...137..280W, doi:10.1086/147501
  7. ↑ Lambert, D. L.; Sneden, C.; Ries, L. M. (1974), "The oxygen abundance in the metal-deficient star HD 122563", Astrophysical Journal, 188: 97–100, Bibcode:1974ApJ...188...97L, doi:10.1086/152690
  8. ↑ Sneden, C.; Parthasarathy, M. (1983), "The r- and s-process nuclei in the early history of the galaxy - HD 122563", Astrophysical Journal, 267: 757–778, Bibcode:1983ApJ...267..757S, doi:10.1086/160913
  9. ↑ Keenan, P.; McNeil, R. (October 1989), "The Perkins catalog of revised MK types for the cooler stars", Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 71: 245–266, Bibcode:1989ApJS...71..245K, doi:10.1086/191373
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