Xi Tauri


Xi Tauri is a hierarchical quadruple system in the constellation Taurus.
Xi Tauri is a spectroscopic and eclipsing quadruple star. It consists of three blue-white B-type main sequence dwarfs. Two of the stars form an eclipsing binary system and revolve around each other once every 7.15 days. These in turn orbit the third star once every 145 days. The fourth star is a F star that orbits the other three stars in a roughly fifty-year period. The mean combined apparent magnitude of the system is +3.73, but because the stars eclipse one another during their orbits, it is classified as a variable star, and its brightness varies from magnitude +3.70 to +3.79. Xi Tauri is approximately 210 light years from Earth.