AB Aurigae
| Observation data Epoch J2000 Equinox J2000 | |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Auriga |
| Right ascension | 04h 55m 45.84589s |
| Declination | +30° 33′ 04.2921″ |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 7.05 |
| Characteristics | |
| Evolutionary stage | Pre-main-sequence |
| Spectral type | A0Ve |
| U−B color index | +0.04 |
| B−V color index | +0.11 |
| Variable type | INA (Herbig Ae) |
| Astrometry | |
| Radial velocity (Rv) | +8.9±0.9 km/s |
| Proper motion (μ) | RA: +4.018 mas/yr Dec.: –24.027 mas/yr |
| Parallax (π) | 6.4127±0.0372 mas |
| Distance | 509 ± 3 ly (155.9 ± 0.9 pc) |
| Details | |
| Mass | 2.4±0.2 M☉ |
| Radius | 2.5 R☉ |
| Luminosity | ~38 L☉ |
| Temperature | 9,772 K |
| Age | 4±1 Myr |
| Other designations | |
| AB Aur, BD+30° 741, HD 31293, HIP 22910, SAO 57506 | |
| Database references | |
| SIMBAD | data |
AB Aurigae is a young Herbig Ae star in the Auriga constellation. It is located at a distance of approximately 509 light years from the Sun based on stellar parallax. This pre-main-sequence star has a stellar classification of A0Ve, matching an A-type main-sequence star with emission lines in the spectrum. It has 2.4 times the mass of the Sun and is radiating 38 times the Sun's luminosity from its photosphere at an effective temperature of 9,772 K. The radio emission from the system suggests the presence of a thermal jet originating from the star with a velocity of 300 km s−1. This is causing an estimated mass loss of 1.7×10−8 M☉ yr−1.
Mary Doris Applegate Beach discovered that AB Aurigae is a variable star by examining 150 photographic plates taken between 1914 and 1921. Her discovery was announced in 1921.
This star is known for hosting a dust disk that harbour a massive protoplanet or proto-brown dwarf. The star is part of the young Taurus-Auriga association, which is located in the Taurus Molecular Cloud. It may recently have encountered a dense cloudlet, which disrupted its debris disk and produced an additional reflection nebula.