DH Cephei

DH Cephei is a variable binary star system in the northern circumpolar constellation of Cepheus, positioned about two degrees to the east of the star system Delta Cephei. With an apparent visual magnitude of 8.61, it is too faint to be visible without a telescope. Based on parallax measurements, this system is located at a distance of approximately 9.6 kilolight-years (2.9 kiloparsecs) from the Sun. At present it is moving closer to the Earth with a radial velocity of −33 km/s.

This is a double-lined spectroscopic binary system consisting of two near-identical, massive, O-type main sequence stars. Evolutionary tracks place the stars close to the zero age main sequence, with an age of less than two million years. This is a detached binary with a close orbit having a period of 2.11 days, and the orbit is assumed to have circularized. The orbital plane is estimated to be inclined by an angle of 47°±1° to the line of sight from the Earth, which yields mass estimates of 38 and 34 times the mass of the Sun.

In 1949, Joseph Algernon Pearce derived the orbital elements for DH Cephei (then known as HD 215835) and predicted that the binary pair would show eclipses, although he had no data to prove that. Graham Hill et al. confirmed the predicted variability of star's brightness, in 1976. Although initially suspected to be an eclipsing binary and given a variable star designation, it doesn't appear to be eclipsing. Instead, the system displays ellipsoidal light variations that are caused by tidal distortions.

This system lies at the center of the young open cluster NGC 7380. It is the primary ionizing source for the surrounding H II region designated S142. The pair are a source of X-ray emission, which may be the result of colliding stellar winds. Their measured X-ray luminosity is 3.2×10³¹ erg s⁻¹. The location and rare class of these stars make them an important object for astronomical studies.