Wikipedia / Gamma Sextantis
Wikipedia / Gamma Sextantis
Gamma Sextantis, Latinized as γ Sextantis, is a binary star system in the equatorial constellation of Sextans. The combined apparent visual magnitude of the system is 5.05, which means it is faintly visible to the naked eye. The annual parallax shift is 11.75mas, indicating a distance of around 280light years.
The two components orbit each other with a period of 77.6years and a high eccentricity of 0.741. The orbital plane is inclined by 143.2° to the line of sight from the Earth. With a visual magnitude of 5.6, the brighter component Gamma Sextantis A is an A-type main sequence star with a stellar classification of A1V. The fainter companion Gamma Sextantis B has a classification of A4V with a magnitude of 6.0. Their combined spectrum matches a classification of A0/1V. Their angular separation 0.4 arcseconds, so observation with a telescope requires a diameter of at least 30 centimeters.
There is a magnitude 12.28 companion star Gamma Sextantis C at an angular separation of 36.9arc seconds along a position angle of 333°, as of 2000. This separation has increased from 30.0arc seconds in 1834. The proper motion of this star differs from the Gamma Sextantis AB system, having proper motions of −29mas/yr and +5 mas/yr in right ascension and declination, respectively.
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