Surface temperature 10,500 K | Magnitude 3.849 Apparent magnitude (V) 3.849 | |
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Similar Beta Aquarii, Alpha Aquarii, Delta Aquarii, Beta Capricorni, Beta Pegasi | ||
Gamma Aquarii (γ Aquarii, abbreviated Gamma Aqr, γ Aqr), also named Sadachbia, is a binary star in the constellation of Aquarius. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 3.849, making it one of the brighter members of the constellation. Based upon parallax measurements, this star is located at a distance of roughly 164 light-years (50 parsecs) from the Sun, with an error margin of 5%. The star is a spectroscopic binary with a period of 58.1 days.
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Nomenclature
γ Aquarii (Latinised to Gamma Aquarii) is the system's Bayer designation.
It bore the traditional name Sadachbia, from an Arabic expression سعد الأخبية sa‘d al-’axbiyah "luck of the homes (tents)". In Hindi it is also called Satabhishaj (a hundred physicians); Sadhayam in Tamil. In the catalogue of stars in the Calendarium of Al Achsasi Al Mouakket, this star was designated Aoul al Achbiya (أول ألأجبية - awwil al ahbiyah), which was translated into Latin as Prima Tabernaculorum, meaning the first of luck of the homes (tents). In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalogue and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN approved the name Sadachbia for this star on 21 August 2016 and it is now so entered in the IAU Catalog of Star Names.
This star, along with Pi Aquarii (Seat), Zeta Aquarii (Sadaltager / Achr al Achbiya) and Eta Aquarii (Hydria), were al Aḣbiyah (الأخبية), "the Tent".
In Chinese, 墳墓 (Fén Mù), meaning Tomb, refers to an asterism consisting of Gamma Aquarii, Zeta Aquarii, Eta Aquarii and Pi Aquarii. Consequently, Gamma Aquarii itself is known as 墳墓二 (Fén Mù èr, English: the Second Star of Tomb).
Properties
Gamma Aquarii is an A-type main sequence star with a stellar classification of A0 V, around two and a half times more massive than the Sun. It is a candidate Lambda Boötis star, suggesting it may have accreted low-metallicity circumstellar gas some time in the past. It is spinning relatively rapidly with a projected rotational velocity of 80 km s−1. This value gives a lower bound on the actual azimuthal velocity along the star's equator. The outer atmosphere of Gamma Aquarii is radiating energy at an effective temperature of 10,500 K, which is nearly double the temperature at the surface of the Sun. This heat is what gives Gamma Aquarii the white-hot glow of an A-type star.