Psi Centauri
Psi Centauri, which is Latinized from ψ Centauri, is a binary star system in the southern constellation of Centaurus. It is visible to the naked eye with a baseline apparent visual magnitude of +4.05. The distance to this system is approximately 259 light years based on parallax. The radial velocity is poorly constrained, but it appears to be slowly drifting away from the Sun at the rate of +2 km/s.

This is a detached eclipsing binary system with the secondary eclipse being total. The pair are orbiting each other with a period of 38.81 days and an eccentricity of 0.55. The brightness of the system dips by 0.28 and 0.16 magnitude during the two eclipses per orbit. The system displays an infrared excess at a wavelength of 60 μm, indicating the presence of a circumstellar debris disk with a temperature of 120 K, orbiting at a distance of 64 AU.

The pair have a combined stellar classification of A0 IV, matching a white-hued A-type subgiant. The two components appear to be at different evolutionary stages. Both have high rotation rates, with projected rotational velocities over 120 km/s. The primary has 3.6 times the Sun's radius while the secondary is 1.8 times. The primary showed evidence of pulsational behavior with 1.996 and 5.127 cycles per day, which suggests it is a slowly pulsating B star. But this remains unconfirmed as of 2017, and the finding may instead be the result of instrumental error.
Q466126
Latinized
ORG
Q50053
binary star
Concept
Q8928
constellation
Concept
Q8844
Centaurus
CEL
Q124313
apparent visual magnitude
Concept
Q531
light year
Concept
Q906561
parallax
Concept
Q240105
radial velocity
Concept
Q50053
detached
Concept
Q50053
eclipsing binary
Concept
Q37640
period
Concept
Q208474
eccentricity
Concept
Q1396651
infrared excess
UNK
Q41364
wavelength
Concept
Q175821
μm
Concept
Q1326555
debris disk
Concept
Q1811
AU
Concept
Q25377588
stellar classification
Concept
Q25377588
A-type
Concept
Q6227
subgiant
Concept
Q6472
evolutionary
Concept
Q6464
projected rotational velocities
Concept
Q48440
Sun's radius
Concept
Q6243
pulsational behavior
Concept
Q18392084
slowly pulsating B star
CEL
Q2700089
Psi Centauri
CEL
2017-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2017
DATE
++4.05^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
+4.05
NUMBER
++2^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
+2
NUMBER
+38.81^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
38.81
NUMBER
+0.55^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
0.55
NUMBER
+0.28^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
0.28
NUMBER
+0.16^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
0.16
NUMBER
+60^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
60
NUMBER
+64^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
64
NUMBER
0^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
0
NUMBER
+3.6^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
3.6
NUMBER
+1.8^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
1.8
NUMBER
+1.996^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
1.996
NUMBER
+5.127^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
5.127
NUMBER
constellation
instance of