1 PER (1 Persei). [per-p.html">Perseus+,the Hero who killed
[cetus-p.html"Cetus+, the Sea Monster, and thereby won
[Andromeda-p.html"+Andromeda's heart, is a prominent, spread-out
star_intro.html">cluster+ of stars that sprawls between our Heroine
and [Auriga-p.html">Auriga+. One might think that the number 1 star
(1 Persei) would be Perseus's luminary, visually outshining the vast
number of stars that lie within the northern [mw.html">Milky Way+.
Alas, at just barely sixth magnitude (5.52), 1 Per is visible without
optical aid to only the best eyes and under the best of conditions.
Yet among its neighbors, it's a rare and luminous class B (B1.5)
[star_intro.html#classes">dwarf+ that rather stands out among the
local field stars, compliments of its bluish color (the result of a
temperature that falls somewhere between 17,000 and 22,100) and most
significantly that it's a weak
[star_intro.html"#eclipsing">>eclipsing binary+ star in which two
nearly identical members orbit with a period of 25.935...days, an eclipse
depth of 0.20 magnitudes, and a high (but controversial) eccentricity
of 0.39. (Eclipsers are always a joy to find as so much information
can be gotten from them.) One of the members apparently fills its
"equipotential surface," its surrounding tear-shaped tidal surface
where the "effective gravity" is zero and mass can flow from one star
to the other. Instead of a physical property, the "number 1" refers
to position as the westernmost numbered star in the eighteenth-century
[strname.html#flamsteed">Flamsteed Catalogue+. Assuming simple
identical components, and adopting a dimming of 0.29 magnitudes by
[star_intro.html#ism">interstellar dust+, a large distance of 1290
light years (give or take 170), we find individual luminosities of 2285
Suns for each star and effective radii somewhat more than solar. Theory
suggests masses of about 8.2 Suns (more sophisticated analyses giving
8.7 and 8.3, near the point above which stars blow up). Mass, along
with the measured orbital period and Kepler's laws, suggests a
separation of about a solar diameter, as expected. The star, though
spinning with an equatorial rotation speed of at least 198 kilometers
per second, shows no sign of a circmpolar disk that would make it into
an "emission-line star" like gamma
Cassiopeiae". The greatest significance of 1 Persei, though, lies in
the course of its evolution. Since higher-mass stars evolve and expand
first, the more massive will quickly encroach upon the other and mass
transfer will begin in earnest. The star seems to be in the first stage
that will take it into the realm of eclipsers that look like famed Algol(/a) to the west, so perhaps "number 1" may
mean something after all other than helping to define the border
between Perseus and Andromeda.
Written by Jim Kaler 12/15/17. Return to STARS.