Rho Aurigae


Rho Aurigae is the Bayer designation for a binary star system in the northern constellation of Auriga. It is faintly visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of +5.22. Judging by parallax measurements, this system is approximately distant from the Earth, give or take a 30 light-year margin of error.

System

ρ Aurigae is a single-lined spectroscopic binary system; the presence of a companion object is revealed by shifts in the stellar spectrum. The pair orbit each other with a period of 34.49 days and an orbital eccentricity of 0.10.
The primary component of this system is a B-type main sequence star defined as a standard star for the stellar classification of B5 V. The deduced mass of the secondary and the lack of evidence for it in the spectrum suggest it may be a B- or A-type star somewhat less luminous than the primary.

Name

Rho Aurigae, along with λ Aur and μ Aur, were Kazwini's Al Ḣibāʽ, the Tent. According to the catalogue of stars in the Technical Memorandum 33-507 - A Reduced Star Catalog Containing 537 Named Stars, Al Ḣibāʽ were the title for three stars : λ Aur as Al Ḣibāʽ I, μ Aur as Al Ḣibāʽ II and σ Aur as Al Ḣibāʽ III.
In Chinese, 咸池, meaning Pool of Harmony, refers to an asterism consisting of ρ Aurigae, λ Aurigae and HD 36041. Consequently, the Chinese name for ρ Aurigae itself is 咸池一