  | |
| Observation data EpochJ2000.0ICRS EquinoxJ2000.0ICRS | |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Sagittarius |
| Right ascension | 19h 16m 32.76686s[1] |
| Declination | −33° 31′ 20.3402″[1] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 5.8-14.0[2] |
| Characteristics | |
| Spectral type | G0Iaep (C1,0)[2] |
| Variable type | R CrB[2] |
| Astrometry | |
| Radial velocity (Rv) | −16.02[1] km/s |
| Proper motion (μ) | RA: 8.957[1]mas/yr Dec.: −0.277[1]mas/yr |
| Parallax (π) | 0.5880±0.0273 mas[1] |
| Distance | 5,500 ± 300 ly (1,700 ± 80 pc) |
| Absolute magnitude (MV) | −5[3] |
| Details | |
| Radius | 60[3] R☉ |
| Luminosity | 9,120[3] L☉ |
| Temperature | 7,250[4] K |
| Other designations | |
| RY Sgr,CD−33 14076,HD 180093,HIP 94730,HR 7296,SAO 211117 | |
| Database references | |
| SIMBAD | data |
RY Sagittarii is ayellow supergiant and anR Coronae Borealis typevariable star in theconstellationSagittarius. Although it ostensibly has the spectrum of a G-type star, it differs markedly from most in that it has almost no hydrogen and much carbon.
ColonelErnest Elliott Markwick first came across what became known as RY Sagittarii during searches for variable stars while posted in Gibraltar.[5] He recorded it dimming from magnitude 7 in July 1893 to fainter than 11 by 23 October that year, and brightening to magnitude 6.4 by November 1894.[6]Edward Charles Pickering wrote that it was a "remarkable object",[6] and "nearly got away".[5] The spectrum was first noted to be peculiar at the time,[6] and by 1953 it was classified as a R Coronae Borealis variable, along with a handful of other stars.[7]
Mystified by its origins, Danziger postulated possible explanations as forming from a helium cloud, an aged star that had exhausted its hydrogen, or a star that had somehow thrown off its hydrogen envelope, though noted there was no evidence of such an envelope. He conceded that knowledge of star evolution was not advanced enough to come up with an explanation.[8]
It is one of the three brightest R Coronae Borealis stars visible to Earth observers, along withR Coronae Borealis andV854 Centauri,[9] and the brightest in the southern hemisphere.[3] It is also a pulsating variable, with a semiregular period of 38 days.[10] Its light curve has been studied for over a hundred years and is typical for the class, characterised by a sudden drop in brightness of several magnitudes over a few weeks before gradually brightening over the following several months. The timing between these dimmings is irregular.[10] The cause of the drop in magnitude is the presence of dust clouds of carbon obscuring (and most likely ejected from) the star, though the mechanism how this might occur is not known.[10][11] Extensive clouds have been detected with ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer.[12]
The star is so remote that its parallax, distance and hence luminosity were impossible to calculate with any accuracy.[10] TheHipparcos satellite calculated its parallax at 1.29 milliarcseconds,[13] yielding a distance of 1,716.6light-years (526.32parsecs) fromEarth. Its parallax from theGaia EDR3 is much smaller at0.56 mas, indicating a much larger distance[1] consistent with non-parallax estimates of the distance.[3] The distance derived indirectly by comparison with similar stars, is around 2,000 parsecs.[3] Its effective temperature has been calculated at 7,250 K[4] and its size at 60 R☉ based on an assumed luminosity of 9,120 L☉.[3]
