Features Vela (constellation)

1 features

1.1 stars
1.2 brown dwarfs
1.3 deep-sky objects

features
stars

the brightest star in constellation, gamma velorum, complex multiple star system. brighter component, known gamma velorum or suhail, shines blue-white star of apparent magnitude 1.83. spectroscopic binary made of 2 hot blue stars orbiting each other every 78.5 days , separated somewhere between 0.8 , 1.6 astronomical units (au). brighter component hot blue main-sequence star of spectral type o7.5 , around 280,000 times luminous, around 30 times massive , 17 times diameter of our sun surface temperature of 35,000 k. second component extremely rare example of hot star known wolf–rayet star, , brightest example in sky. has surface temperature of 57,000 , around 170,000 times luminous our sun, though radiates of energy in ultraviolet spectrum. gamma blue-white star of spectral type b2iii , apparent magnitude 4.3. 2 pairs separated 41 arcseconds, separable in binoculars. parallax measurements give distance of 1,116 light-years, meaning @ least 12,000 au apart. further afield 7.3-magnitude gamma velorum c , 9.4-magnitude gamma velorum d, lying 62 , 93 arcseconds southsoutheast gamma.

dusty ring around double star iras 08544-4431.

the next brightest star delta velorum, multiple star system , 1 of brightest eclipsing binaries in sky. kappa velorum, iota , epsilon carinae, forms diamond-shaped asterism known false cross—so called because mistaken southern cross, causing errors in astronavigation. appearing white star of magnitude 1.95, delta triple or possibly quintuple star system located around 80 light-years solar system. delta has magnitude of 1.99 , eclipsing binary composed of 2 a-type white stars (delta aa , ab) orbit each other every 45.2 days , lie 0.5 au each other, resulting drop in magnitude of 0.4 when dimmer 1 passes.in front of brighter. delta b 5.1 magnitude yellow g-class star of similar dimensions our sun ranges between 26 , 72 au away brighter pair, taking 142 years complete revolution. further out still, @ distance of 1700 au, 2 red dwarfs of magnitudes 11 , 13. if part of multiple system, take 28000 years complete orbit. called markeb, kappa appears blue-white star of spectral type b2iv-v , magnitude 2.47 in fact spectroscopic binary. 2 orbit around each other period of 116.65 days, size, mass , nature of companion yet unclear.

the orange-hued lambda velorum, or suhail, third-brightest star in constellation. supergiant of spectral type k4ib-ii, varies between magnitudes 2.14 , 2.3, , lies 545 light-years distant. has around 11,000 times luminosity, 9 12 times mass , 207 times diameter or our sun.

ah velorum cepheid variable located less degree northeast of gamma. yellow-white supergiant of spectral type f7ib-ii, pulsates between magnitudes 5.5 , 5.89 on 4.2 days. lying close gamma, v velorum cepheid of spectral type f6-f9ii ranging magnitude 7.2 7.9 on 4.4 days. ai velorum located 2.8 degrees northnortheast of gamma, delta scuti variable of spectral type a2p-f2piv/v ranges between magniudes 6.15 , 6.76 in around 2.7 hours.

v390 velorum aged star has been found surrounded dusty disk. rv tauri variable, has spectral type of f3e , ranges between magnitudes 9.01 , 9.27 on 95 days.

omicron velorum blue-white subgiant of spectral type b3iii-iv located around 495 light-years solar system. pulsating b star, ranges between magnitudes 3.57 , 3.63 on 2.8 days. brightest star in, , gives name to, omicron velorum cluster, known ic 2391, open cluster located around 500 light-years away.

seven star systems have been found have planets. hd 75289 sun-like star of spectral type g0v hot jupiter planetary companion takes 3.51 days revolve @ orbital distance of 0.0482 au. wasp-19 star of apparent magnitude 12.3 located 815 light-years away, has hot jupiter-like planet orbits every 0.7 days. hd 73526 sun-like star of spectral type g6v has 2 planets around double mass of jupiter each orbits of 187 , 377 days, respectively.

hd 85390 orange dwarf of spectral type k1.5v lying around 111 light-years distant planet 42 times massive earth orbiting every 788 days.

hd 93385 sun-like star of spectral type g2/g3v located around 138 light-years away orbited 2 super-earths periods of 13 , 46 days , masses 8.3 , 10.1 times of earth, respectively.

brown dwarfs

the discovery of binary brown dwarf system named luhman 16 6.6 light-years away, third-closest system solar system, announced on 11 march 2013.

deep-sky objects

of deep-sky objects of interest in vela planetary nebula known ngc 3132, nicknamed eight-burst nebula or southern ring nebula (see accompanying photo). lies on border of constellation antlia. ngc 2899 unusual red-hued example. constellation has 32 more planetary nebulae.

deep-sky photograph of ngc 3132, known eight-burst or southern ring nebula. © nasa.

the gum nebula faint emission nebula, believed remains of million-year-old supernova. within lie smaller , younger vela supernova remnant. nebula of supernova explosion believed have been visible earth around 10,000 years ago. remnant contains vela pulsar, first pulsar identified optically. nearby ngc 2736, known pencil nebula.

hh-47 herbig-haro object, young star around 1,400 light-years sun ejecting material @ tremendous speed (up million kilometres per hour) surrounds. material glows hits surrounding gas.

ngc 2670 open cluster located in vela. has overall magnitude of 7.8 , 3,200 light-years earth. stars of ngc 2670, trumpler class ii 2 p , shapley class-d cluster, in conformation suggesting bow , arrow. class indicates poor, loose cluster, though detached star field. concentrated @ center, , less 50 stars range moderately in brightness.

located 2 degrees south of gamma velorum, ngc 2547 open cluster containing around 50 stars of magnitudes 7 15.

ngc 3201 globular cluster discovered james dunlop on may 28, 1826. stellar population inhomogeneous, varying distance core. effective temperature of stars shows increase greater distance, redder , cooler stars tending located closer core. of 2010, 1 of 2 clusters (including messier 4) shows definite inhomogeneous population.

rcw 36 star-forming region in vela, , 1 of nearest sites of massive star formation. star-forming region has given rise cluster of several hundred young stars power hii region. star-forming region lies in clump 6 in vela molecular ridge cloud c.