ι Virginis (Latinised toIota Virginis) is the system'sBayer designation. The designations of the two components asIota Virginis A andB derive from the convention used by the Washington Multiplicity Catalog (WMC) for multiplestar systems, and adopted by theInternational Astronomical Union (IAU).[9]
It bore the traditional nameSyrma, derived from theArabic سرما (تطريزsirmā "train (of a garment)".[10] In 2016, theInternational Astronomical Union organized aWorking Group on Star Names (WGSN)[11][12] to catalogue and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN approved the nameSyrma for Iota Virginis on 12 September 2016 and it is now so included in the List of IAU-approved Star Names.[8] For such names relating to members ofmultiple star systems, and where a component letter (from e.g.Washington Double Star Catalog) is not explicitly listed, the WGSN says that the name should be understood to be attributed to the brightest component by visual brightness.[13]
In China,亢宿 (Kàng Xiù), meaningNeck, refers to anasterism consisting of this star,Kappa Virginis,Phi Virginis andLambda Virginis.[14] Consequently, Iota Virginis itself is known as亢宿二 (Kàngxiùèr, English:the Second Star of Neck).
Iota Virginis is anastrometric binary. The secondary regularly perturbs the primary, causing the latter to wobble around itsbarycenter.[3] A preliminaryorbit with aperiod of 55 years has been calculated.[3]
Iota Virginis B has not been directly detected, but based on its mass (0.6 M☉) it may be amain-sequence star or awhite dwarf.[3] That star is also responsible for the driftingradial velocity of the primary.[15]
In 2011, it was noticed that the faintK-type main-sequence starHD 125354 had a similarproper motion throughout space, and was likely physically associated.[16] Another 2015 paper supported this hypothesis. The star, which is located 1.2 ly (0.37 pc) away from Iota Virginis, also has a similar distance from the Sun, within the margin of error. It itself is a close binary with another star separated 0.33″ from the main star.[17]
^Hessman, F. V.; Dhillon, V. S.; Winget, D. E.; Schreiber, M. R.; Horne, K.; Marsh, T. R.; Guenther, E.; Schwope, A.; Heber, U. (2010). "On the naming convention used for multiple star systems and extrasolar planets".arXiv:1012.0707 [astro-ph.SR].
