HD 197911 (HIP 102274) is a bluish-white hued star in the deep northern constellation of Cepheus, close to the border with Draco and Cygnus. With an apparent magnitude of 7.669, it is too faint to be seen by the naked eye under most conditions, but readily visible using binoculars.[4] The star is located some 3,020 light-years (930 parsecs) distant according to Gaia EDR3parallax measurements, but is moving closer to the Solar System at a heliocentric radial velocity of −3.8±3.5 km/s.
The star appears close to the reflection nebula and H II region[5]Sh2-130, alongside the A0-type star HD 197809 and G5-type star SAO 18999,[6] though the latter two stars are located much closer to Earth at 469 ly (144 pc)[7] and 198 ly (61 pc),[8] respectively. The nebula itself is situated at a distance of 600 pc (2,000 ly).[6]
Properties and origin
HD 197911 is a massive B-type star with the spectral type B5, a mass 6.3 times that of the Sun and 9.2 times the radius. It is a runaway star traversing space at a peculiar velocity of 56.69 km/s. The star is thought to have once been part of a binary system, from which it was ejected as its companion ended its life in a supernova.[9]
Initially, the star was thought to have originated in an OB association called the Cepheus OB2 association, which it left 2–3 million years ago, when the association was 3–4 million years old. This aligned with the age of the Cepheus bubble, an annular structure of infrared emission, providing compelling evidence for the binary-supernova scenario, that is, that it was blasted out of a binary system by a companion going supernova.[10]
However, with updated astrometric data, it is now considered more likely that it formed in either Alessi-Teutsch 5 or NGC 7160, two star clusters that are each 12.5 and 9.0 million years old. Both origins are consistent with the initially proposed scenario.[9]
^Sharpless, Stewart (1959). "A Catalogue of H II Regions". The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 4. American Astronomical Society: 257. doi:10.1086/190049. ISSN0067-0049.
^ ab"Sh 2-130". galaxymap.org. Retrieved 5 November 2024.