π Geminorum (Latinised asPi Geminorum, abbreviated to π Gem or pi Gem) is astar located in the constellationGemini, to the north ofCastor. With anapparent visual magnitude of 5.14,[2] it is faintly visible to the naked eye on a dark night. Based upon an annualparallax shift of 4.93 mas,[1] Pi Geminorum is located roughly 660 light years from theSun. At that distance, the visual magnitude of the star is diminished by aninterstellar absorption factor of 0.033 due to interstellar dust.[7]
Unexpected for a red giant, Pi Geminorum was found to be anX-ray source during theROSAT all-sky survey. The most likely source for this emission is a magnitude 11.4 star located at anangular separation of 21 arcseconds along aposition angle of 214°.[13] This is a background star, not gravitationally bound to Pi Geminorum.[14]
In a 1930 study, Pi Geminorum was suspected to vary in brightness by a few hundredths of a magnitude, but this has not been confirmed by modern measurements.[5]
^abSamus, N. N.; Durlevich, O. V.; et al. (2004). "VizieR Online Data Catalog: Combined General Catalogue of Variable Stars (Samus+ 2004)".Vizier Online Data Catalog.Bibcode:2004yCat.2250....0S.
^abcAnders, F.; Khalatyan, A.; Chiappini, C.; Queiroz, A. B.; Santiago, B. X.; Jordi, C.; Girardi, L.; Brown, A. G. A.; Matijevič, G.; Monari, G.; Cantat-Gaudin, T.; Weiler, M.; Khan, S.; Miglio, A.; Carrillo, I.; Romero-Gómez, M.; Minchev, I.; De Jong, R. S.; Antoja, T.; Ramos, P.; Steinmetz, M.; Enke, H. (2019), "Photo-astrometric distances, extinctions, and astrophysical parameters for Gaia DR2 stars brighter than G = 18",Astronomy and Astrophysics,628: A94,arXiv:1904.11302,Bibcode:2019A&A...628A..94A,doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201935765.
^abcFetherolf, Tara; Pepper, Joshua; Simpson, Emilie; Kane, Stephen R.; Močnik, Teo; English, John Edward; Antoci, Victoria; Huber, Daniel; Jenkins, Jon M.; Stassun, Keivan; Twicken, Joseph D.; Vanderspek, Roland; Winn, Joshua N. (2023), "Variability Catalog of Stars Observed during the TESS Prime Mission",The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series,268 (1): 4,arXiv:2208.11721,Bibcode:2023ApJS..268....4F,doi:10.3847/1538-4365/acdee5.
^Hunsch, Matthias; et al. (February 1998), "On the X-ray emission from M-type giants",Astronomy and Astrophysics,330:225–231,Bibcode:1998A&A...330..225H.