Xi_Ophiuchi
Xi Ophiuchi
Visual binary star system in the constellation Ophiuchus
ξ Oph, Latinized as Xi Ophiuchi, is a visual binary star[9] system in the equatorial constellation of Ophiuchus.[2] It has a yellow-white hue and is faintly visible to the naked eye with a combined apparent visual magnitude of 4.39.[2] The system is located approximately 57.1 light-years (17.5 parsecs) away from the Sun based on parallax, but is drifting closer with a radial velocity of -9 km/s.[1]
The magnitude 4.40[10] primary, designated component A, is an ordinary F-type main-sequence star with a stellar classification of F2V.[3] It is 916[7] million years old and is rotating with a projected rotational velocity of 20 km/s. The star has 1.3 times the mass of the Sun and 1.6 times the Sun's radius.[5] It is radiating 4.4[6] times the luminosity of the Sun from its photosphere at an effective temperature of 6,611 K.[5]
The system is a source of X-ray emission.[11] The orbiting companion, component B, is a magnitude 8.9 star at an angular separation of 35″ along a position angle of 27° from the primary, as of 2015. A magnitude 10.8 visual companion, component C, lies at a separation of 10.8″, as of 2004.[10]
According to Richard H. Allen's Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning (1899), ξ Oph together with θ Oph formed the Sogdian Wajrik "the Magician", the Khorasmian Markhashik "the Serpent-bitten" and with η Oph the Coptic Tshiō, "the Snake", and Aggia, "the Magician".[12]