Eta Cassiopeiae
Eta Cassiopeiae
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Eta Cassiopeiae
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
2018-Sep-19
Exposures: RGB 24/24/24 x 2m = 2hr 24m
Processing: SGP, MaximDL, Gimp
Telescope: CFF132,STF-8300M,GM1000
Guider: ST80,LSX2,GSO2X
Eta Cassiopeiae (Achird) is a bright double star located in the constellation Cassiopeia.
Achird is a binary star system and is listed in SIMBAD as Eta Cassiopeiae (η Cas). It is described as a high proper motion system which means it is moving faster through space than most other stars.

The larger and brighter A component (η Cas A) is also known as Achird or Eta Cas A. This star is similar to our sun in many ways. Its spectral type is either F9V or G0V (depending on the catalog referenced) and its visual magnitude is 3.44. The B component (η Cas B) is a magnitude 7.51 K-type dwarf star in a fairly close orbit with the A star.

The A component of η Cas is much brighter than the B component and in most photos the B star is almost completely lost in the glare from A.

In the full size image above, the B star is a barely discernable bulge of light in the upper right quadrant of the A star. The cropped image shown here was reprocessed to remove some of the glare and it reveals the orange hue along with most of the shape of the B star.

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