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B-type subgiant star in the constellation Taurus
Merope ,
[12] designated 23 Tauri (abbreviated 23 Tau ), is a
star in the
constellation of
Taurus and a member of the
Pleiades
star cluster . It is approximately 440
light-years (135
pc ) away.
Distance
Despite being one of the closest star clusters to Earth, the distance to the Pleiades and its member stars is still in dispute. The parallax of Merope itself is not known precisely enough to give an accurate distance. Its
Hipparcos parallax has a statistical margin of error of about 5% and gave a distance 116 parsecs. This, and an overall distance to the Pleiades calculated from Hipparcos parallaxes of 120 parsecs, are inconsistent with other parallax measurements such as from
Gaia . Merope is too bright for Gaia to have a reliable parallax for it, but calculations of the overall distance to the Pleiades cluster using Hipparcos, Gaia,
Hubble Space Telescope , and other methods repeatedly show that the Hipparcos parallaxes suffered from some kind of systemic error, and the distance to the Pleiades is most likely around 135 parsecs.
[13]
[14]
[15]
[16]
[17]
Description
A
light curve for V971 Tauri (Merope), adapted from White et al. (2017)
[18]
Merope is a blue-white
B-type
subgiant with a mean
apparent magnitude of +4.18.
Richard Hinckley Allen described the star as lucid white and violet.
[19] It has a
luminosity of 927 times that of the
Sun and a surface temperature of 14,550
K . Merope's mass is roughly 4.25
M ☉ and has a radius more than 7 times as great as the Sun's. It is classified as a
Beta Cephei type
variable star and its brightness varies by 0.01 magnitudes.
[5] It is given the
variable star designation of V971 Tauri .
Some papers have reported a companion star to Merope, at a separation of 250
mas , as well as several other visual companions farther out. These possible companions have not been confirmed.
[20]
Surrounding Merope is the
Merope Nebula (NGC 1435). It appears brightest around Merope and is listed in the
Index Catalogue as number
IC 349 .
Nomenclature
23 Tauri is the star's
Flamsteed designation . The name
Merope originates with
Greek mythology ; she is one of the seven daughters of
Atlas and
Pleione known as
the Pleiades . In 2016, the
International Astronomical Union organized a
Working Group on Star Names (WGSN)
[21] to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN's first bulletin of July 2016
[22] included a table of the first two batches of names approved by the WGSN; which included Merope for this star. It is now so entered in the IAU Catalog of Star Names.
[23]
References
^
a
b
c
d
e
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S2CID
227254300 . (Erratum:
doi :
10.1051/0004-6361/202039657e ) .
Gaia EDR3 record for this source at
VizieR .
^ Ducati, J. R (2002). "VizieR Online Data Catalog: Catalogue of Stellar Photometry in Johnson's 11-color system". CDS/ADC Collection of Electronic Catalogues . 2237 .
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^ Slettebak, A (1982).
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^
a
b Crawford, D. L.; Barnes, J. V.; Golson, J. C. (1971). "Four-color, Hbeta, and UBV photometry for bright B-type stars in the northern hemisphere".
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^
a
b Samus, N. N.; Durlevich, O. V.; et al. (2009). "VizieR Online Data Catalog: General Catalogue of Variable Stars (Samus+ 2007-2013)". VizieR On-line Data Catalog: B/GCVS. Originally Published in: 2009yCat....102025S . 1 .
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^ Wilson, Ralph Elmer (1953). "General catalogue of stellar radial velocities". Washington .
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^ Anderson, E.; Francis, Ch. (2012). "XHIP: An extended hipparcos compilation". Astronomy Letters . 38 (5): 331.
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^ Zorec, J.; Royer, F. (January 2012). "Rotational velocities of A-type stars. IV. Evolution of rotational velocities". Astronomy and Astrophysics . 537 : A120.
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doi :
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ISSN
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^ McDonald, I.; Zijlstra, A. A.; Watson, R. A. (2017).
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^
a
b
c
d Zorec, J.; et al. (November 2016).
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doi :
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hdl :
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^ Gontcharov, G. A. (2012). "Dependence of kinematics on the age of stars in the solar neighborhood". Astronomy Letters . 38 (12): 771–782.
arXiv :
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doi :
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S2CID
118345778 .
^ Davis, George A. (1944). "The pronunciations, derivations, and meanings of a selected list of star names". Popular Astronomy . 52 : 8–30.
Bibcode :
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^ Galli, P. A. B.; Moraux, E.; Bouy, H.; Bouvier, J.; Olivares, J.; Teixeira, R. (2017). "A revised moving cluster distance to the Pleiades open cluster". Astronomy and Astrophysics . 598 : A48.
arXiv :
1610.05641 .
Bibcode :
2017A&A...598A..48G .
doi :
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S2CID
119225372 .
^ Melis, Carl; Reid, Mark J.; Mioduszewski, Amy J.; Stauffer, John R.; et al. (29 August 2014). "A VLBI resolution of the Pleiades distance controversy". Science . 345 (6200): 1029–1032.
arXiv :
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Bibcode :
2014Sci...345.1029M .
doi :
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PMID
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S2CID
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^ Anthony G. A. Brown; GAIA Collaboration (2016). "Gaia Data Release 1. Summary of the astrometric, photometric, and survey properties". Astronomy and Astrophysics (forthcoming article). 595 : A2.
arXiv :
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Bibcode :
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doi :
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S2CID
1828208 .
^ Abramson, Guillermo (20 August 2018).
"The Distance to the Pleiades According to Gaia DR2" . Research Notes of the AAS . 2 (3): 150.
Bibcode :
2018RNAAS...2..150A .
doi :
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hdl :
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^ Soderblom D. R.; Nelan E.; Benedict G. F.; McArthur B.; et al. (2005). "Confirmation of Errors in Hipparcos Parallaxes from Hubble Space Telescope Fine Guidance Sensor Astrometry of the Pleiades".
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Bibcode :
2005AJ....129.1616S .
doi :
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S2CID
15354711 .
^ White, T. R.; Pope, B. J. S.; Antoci, V.; Papics, P. I.; Aerts, C.; Gies, D. R.; Gordon, K.; Huber, D.; Schaefer, G. H.; Aigrain, S.; Albrecht, S.; Barclay, T.; Barentsen, G.; Beck, P. G.; Bedding, T. R.; Fredslund, M.; Andersen, M. Fredslund; Grundahl, F.; Howell, S. B.; Ireland, M. J.; Murphy, S. J.; Nielsen, M. B.; Aguirre, V. Silva; Tuthill, P. G. (November 2017).
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doi :
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^ Merope , Star Names and their Meanings , Richard Hinckley Allen,
Dover Publications ,
1963, p. 407.
^ Hutter, D. J.; Tycner, C.; Zavala, R. T.; Benson, J. A.; Hummel, C. A.; Zirm, H. (2021).
"Surveying the Bright Stars by Optical Interferometry. III. A Magnitude-limited Multiplicity Survey of Classical Be Stars" . The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series . 257 (2): 69.
arXiv :
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doi :
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S2CID
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^
"IAU Working Group on Star Names (WGSN)" . Retrieved 22 May 2016 .
^
"Bulletin of the IAU Working Group on Star Names, No. 1" (PDF) . Retrieved 28 July 2016 .
^
"IAU Catalog of Star Names" . Retrieved 28 July 2016 .
External links