Ross 548

Ross 548

A light curve for ZZ Ceti, adapted from Stover et al. (1980)
Observation data
Epoch J2000.0      Equinox J2000.0 (ICRS)
Constellation Cetus
Right ascension 01h 36m 13.61558s
Declination −11° 20 32.6318
Apparent magnitude (V) 14.16±0.01
Characteristics
Evolutionary stage White dwarf
Spectral type DA4.0
U−B color index −0.5
B−V color index 0.2
Variable type ZZ Cet (DAV)
Astrometry
Proper motion (μ) RA: +460.845 mas/yr
Dec.: −116.448 mas/yr
Parallax (π)30.5249±0.0546 mas
Distance106.8 ± 0.2 ly
(32.76 ± 0.06 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)11.78±0.06
Details
Mass0.65±0.02 M
Radius0.0118±0.0002 R
Luminosity0.0029±0.0002 L
Surface gravity (log g)8.108±0.025 cgs
Temperature12,281±125 K
Rotation37.84±1.99 h
Other designations
ZZ Cet, EGGR 10, G 271-106, G 272-52, LTT 873, NLTT 5358, WD 0133-116
Database references
SIMBADdata

Ross 548 is a white dwarf in the equatorial constellation of Cetus. With a mean apparent visual magnitude of 14.2 it is much too faint to be visible to the naked eye. Based on parallax measurements, it is located at a distance of 107 light years from the Sun. It was found to be variable in 1970 and in 1972 it was given the variable star designation ZZ Ceti. This is a pulsating white dwarf of the DAV type that is the prototype of the ZZ Ceti variable class., pp. 891, 895.

This DA-class white dwarf is the surviving core of a red giant star that ceased nuclear fusion while shedding its outer envelope. It has a (presumably) homogeneous core of carbon and oxygen, a relatively thin outer envelope of hydrogen, and a helium mantle. The object has 65% of the mass of the Sun, with 1.2% of the Sun's radius. It is radiating 0.3% of the luminosity of the Sun at an effective temperature of 12,281 K. Ross 548 is spinning with a period of ~38 hours. The dominant pulsation mode of this object has a period of 213.1326 seconds. It has up to 11 known pulsation modes in total.