Celaeno (star) explained

Celaeno ^[1] (designated 16 Tauri) is a star in the constellation of Taurus and a member of the Pleiades open star cluster (M45) of stars.

Properties

16 Tauri is a blue-white B-type subgiant with an apparent magnitude of +5.45. It is approximately 430 light years from the Sun; about the same distance as the Pleiades. The interstellar extinction of this star is fairly small at 0.05 magnitudes.^[2] The projected rotational velocity of the equator is 185 km/s.^[3] It is over four times the radius of the Sun and has a surface temperature of 12,800 K.^{[4] [5]}

Nomenclature

16 Tauri is the star's Flamsteed designation.

It bore the traditional named Celaeno (or Celeno) and was called the "Lost Pleiad" by Theon the Younger.^[6] Celaeno was one of the Pleiades sisters in Greek mythology. In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalogue and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN approved the name Celaeno for this star on 21 August 2016 and it is now so entered in the IAU Catalog of Star Names.^[7]

Namesake

USS Celeno (AK-76) was a United States Navy Crater class cargo ship named after the star.

Notes and References

1. Davis . George A. . 1944 . The pronunciations, derivations, and meanings of a selected list of star names . Popular Astronomy . 52 . 8–30 . 1944PA.....52....8D.
2. Breger, M. . August 1984 . The Pleiades cluster. I - Polarization and reddening of the brighter stars . 145–148 . Astronomy and Astrophysics . 137 . 1 . 1984A&A...137..145B .
3. Abt, Helmut A. . Levato, Hugo . Grosso, Monica . K. S. Cheng . K. C. Leung . T. P. Li . Rotational velocities of B stars . Proceedings, Stellar astrophysics - a tribute to Helmut A. Abt. Sixth Pacific Rim Conference . Xi'an, China . July 11–17, 2002 . . 1-4020-1683-2 . 165–172 . Vizier table J/ApJ/573/359.
4. Wolff, Sidney C. . December 1990 . Luminosities, masses, and ages of B-type stars . 1994 . Astronomical Journal . 100 . 10.1086/115654. 1990AJ....100.1994W.
5. Web site: Pasinetti-Fracassini, L. E. . Pastori, L. . Covino, S. . Pozzi, A. . November 2000 . Catalogue of Stellar Diameters (CADARS) (Pasinetti-Fracassini+ 2001) . VizieR On-line Data Catalog: II/224 . 2009-10-10 .
6. Book: Allen, Richard Hinckley . 1899 . 407 . Star-names and their meanings . G. E. Stechert . 2009-10-10 .
7. Web site: IAU Catalog of Star Names . 28 July 2016.