Υ_Carinae
Upsilon Carinae
Binary star in the constellation Carina
Upsilon Carinae, Latinized from υ Carinae, is a double star in the southern constellation of Carina. It is part of the Diamond Cross asterism in southern Carina. The Upsilon Carinae system has a combined apparent magnitude of +2.97[2] and is approximately 1,400 light years (440 parsecs) from Earth.[1]
In Chinese, 海石 (Hǎi Dàn), meaning Sea Rock, refers to an asterism consisting of υ Carinae, ε Carinae, ι Carinae, HD 83183 and HD 84810.[8] Consequently, υ Carinae itself is known as 海石五 (Hǎi Dàn wǔ, English: the Fifth Star of Sea Rock.)[9]
The primary component, υ Carinae A, has a stellar classification of A8 Ib, making it a supergiant star that has exhausted the hydrogen at its core and evolved away from its brief main sequence lifetime as an O9 V star.[4] With an apparent magnitude of +3.08,[3] it has an effective temperature of about 7,600 K,[4] giving it a white hue. The companion, υ Carinae B, is a giant star with a classification of B7 III,[3] although Mandrini and Niemela (1986) suggested it may be a subgiant star with a classification of B4–5 IV.[4] The outer envelope of this star has an effective temperature of around 23,000 K, resulting in the blue-white hue of a B-type star.
The two stars have an angular separation of 5.030 arcseconds. As a binary star system, they would have an estimated orbital period of at least 19,500 years and a present-day separation of around 2,000 Astronomical Units.[4] This system is roughly 12 million years old.[6]
In the next 7500 years, the south Celestial pole will pass close to these stars and Iota Carinae (8100 CE).[10]