V Aquilae

V Aquilae
Location of V Aquilae (circled)
Observation data
Epoch J2000      Equinox J2000
Constellation Aquila
Right ascension 19h 04m 24.155s
Declination −05° 41 05.44
Apparent magnitude (V) 6.6 - 8.4
Characteristics
Spectral type C5,4-C6,4(N6)
B−V color index +4.32
Variable type SRb
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)+37 km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: 6.243±0.407 mas/yr
Dec.: −1.379±0.318 mas/yr
Parallax (π)2.4779±0.2320 mas
Distance1,300 ± 100 ly
(400 ± 40 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)−5.19
Details
Mass2.5 M
Radius234 R
Luminosity6,500 L
Surface gravity (log g)−0.108 cgs
Temperature2,800 K
Metallicity [Fe/H]0.10 dex
Other designations
BD−05 4858, HD 177336, HIP 93666, HR 7220, SAO 142985
Database references
SIMBADdata

V Aquilae (V Aql) is a carbon star and semiregular variable star in the constellation Aquila. It has an apparent magnitude which varies between 6.6 and 8.4 and is located around 400 parsecs (1,300 ly) away.

V Aquilae is a type of star with a spectrum that is dominated by strong absorption lines of the molecules C2 and CN, hence known as carbon stars. The enhanced levels of carbon in the atmosphere originate from recently nucleosynthesized material that has been dredged up to the surface by deep convection during temporary shell burning events known as thermal pulses. Published spectral types for the star vary somewhat from C54 to C64, or N6 under an older system of classification. The subscript 4 refers to the strength of the molecular carbon bands in the spectrum, an indicator of the relatively abundances of carbon in the atmosphere.

V Aquilae is a variable star of type SRb. Its variability was first announced by George Knott in 1871. It has a published period of 400 days, but other periods are found including 350 days and 2,270 days.