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W Aquilae

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W Aquilae

W Aquilae (W Aql / SAO 143184 / GC 2525) is a variable star in the constellation Aquila. Its distance from the solar system is estimated between 1,100 and 7,502 light-years.

Spectral type S3,9e-S6,9e, W Aquilae is a star of S-type, a red giant similar to those of M-type, but in which the dominant spectrum oxides are formed by metals of the fifth period of the periodic table . W Aquilae is also rich in the element technetium. Another feature of this class of stars is the stellar mass loss, in the case of W Aquilae is estimated at ~ 4 × 10-7 solar masses per year. Its effective temperature is about between 2,250 - 3,175 K and its diameter is between 430 - 473 solar radii. It is also a very bright star, between 9,740 - 28,885 times more than the sun.

W Aquilae is a variable whose brightness oscillates between magnitude +7.3 and +14.3 over a period of 490.43 days.5 In Mira variables whose prototype is Mira – instability comes pulsation in the stellar surface, causing changes in color and brightness. Some of them, among which is W Aquilae show SiO maser emission.

References

W Aquilae Wikipedia