CQ Camelopardalis

CQ Camelopardalis

A light curve for CQ Camelopardalis, plotted from Hipparcos data
Observation data
Epoch J2000.0      Equinox J2000.0 (ICRS)
Constellation Camelopardalis
Right ascension 03h 24m 40.5567s
Declination +64° 35 09.580
Apparent magnitude (V) 5.19
Characteristics
Evolutionary stage AGB
Spectral type M0 II
B−V color index +2.05
R−I color index +1.23
Variable type Lc?
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)−22.2±0.5 km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: −3.734 mas/yr
Dec.: −0.171 mas/yr
Parallax (π)1.6385±0.1030 mas
Distance2,000 ± 100 ly
(610 ± 40 pc)
Details
Mass12.7±0.5 M
Radius333 R
Luminosity13,236 L
Surface gravity (log g)0.48±0.08 cgs
Temperature3,790±122 K
Metallicity [Fe/H]+0.17±0.04 dex
Age15.8±0.3 Myr
Other designations
CQ Cam, NSV 1121, AG+64°221, BD+64°391, FK5 1096, GC 4034, HD 20797, HIP 15890, HR 1009, SAO 12743
Database references
SIMBADdata

CQ Camelopardalis, abbreviated as CQ Cam, is a solitary variable star in the northern circumpolar constellation Camelopardalis. It has an apparent magnitude of 5.19, making it visible to the naked eye under ideal conditions. The object is relatively far at a distance of about 2,000 light years but is drifting closer with a heliocentric radial velocity of −22 km/s. It has a peculiar velocity of 21.8+2.1
−1.9
 km/s
, making it a runaway star.

CQ Cam has a stellar classification of M0 II, indicating that it is a red bright giant. CQ Cam is currently on the asymptotic giant branch, fusing hydrogen and helium shells around an inert carbon core. At present it has 12.7 times the mass of the Sun but, at the age of 16 million years, it has expanded to 333 times the radius of the Sun. The object is a luminous star, with a bolometric luminosity over 10,000 times that of the Sun. Despite this brightness, CQ Cam's large diameter yields an effective temperature of 3,790 K from its photosphere, giving a red hue.

CQ Cam has been classified as a low amplitude slow irregular variable based on Hipparcos photometry. However, there have not been enough observations to confirm this.