List of stars in Vulpecula facts for kids
The constellation of Vulpecula, also known as "the Little Fox," is home to many fascinating stars. This article will introduce you to some of the most interesting ones in this constellation, starting with the brightest and moving to those that are special for other reasons, like having planets or changing their brightness.
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Brightest Stars in Vulpecula
The brightness of a star as we see it from Earth is called its apparent magnitude. The smaller the number, the brighter the star appears. Here are some of the brightest stars in Vulpecula:
Alpha Vulpeculae (Anser)
The brightest star in Vulpecula is called Alpha Vulpeculae, but it's also known by its traditional name, Anser. It's a huge, cool star, much bigger than our Sun, and it appears with a reddish-orange glow. Anser is about 291 light-years away from us. Scientists think it might be a variable star, meaning its brightness changes a little bit over time.
Other Bright Stars
- 23 Vulpeculae is the second brightest star in the constellation. It's a giant orange star, similar to Anser, and is about 327 light-years away.
- 31 Vulpeculae is another bright star, a yellow giant that's about 228 light-years from Earth.
- 13 Vulpeculae is a blue-white star, much hotter than our Sun, located about 359 light-years away.
- 15 Vulpeculae is a white star that's also a type of variable star called an Alpha² Canum Venaticorum variable. This means its brightness changes slightly as it rotates. It's about 222 light-years away.
Stars That Change Brightness (Variable Stars)
Many stars in Vulpecula are variable stars, meaning their brightness changes over time. This can happen for many reasons, like the star expanding and shrinking, or another star passing in front of it.
Pulsating Stars
Some stars pulsate, meaning they swell up and shrink, which makes their brightness go up and down.
- T Vulpeculae is a famous type of pulsating star called a classical Cepheid. These stars are very important because astronomers use them to measure distances in space. T Vulpeculae changes its brightness quite a lot over about 4.4 days. It's very far away, about 1,672 light-years.
- U Vulpeculae, S Vulpeculae, and X Vulpeculae are also classical Cepheids, each with their own unique cycle of brightness changes.
- 2 Vulpeculae is a Beta Cephei variable, a type of hot, massive star that pulsates.
- 3 Vulpeculae is a 53 Persei variable, another type of star that changes brightness in a small way.
- BW Vulpeculae is also a Beta Cephei variable, known for its very fast pulsations.
Eclipsing Binary Stars
Sometimes, two stars orbit each other, and one star passes in front of the other, blocking its light. This makes the total brightness we see from Earth go down. These are called eclipsing binary stars.
- 22 Vulpeculae is an Algol variable, a type of eclipsing binary where a dimmer star passes in front of a brighter one. It's a very distant star, about 4,347 light-years away.
- PS Vulpeculae, RS Vulpeculae, DR Vulpeculae, BE Vulpeculae, BP Vulpeculae, and BO Vulpeculae are also Algol variables.
- BS Vulpeculae is a Beta Lyrae variable, another type of eclipsing binary where the stars are so close they are stretched into egg shapes.
Other Variable Stars
- 12 Vulpeculae is a Be star, a type of hot star that spins very fast and has a disk of gas around it, causing its brightness to vary.
- HR 7739 is a Gamma Cassiopeiae variable, another type of star with a changing disk of gas.
- 18 Vulpeculae and HR 7222 are Delta Scuti variables, which are pulsating stars that change brightness quickly.
- V387 Vulpeculae is a semiregular variable, a cool giant star whose brightness changes somewhat predictably.
- V Vulpeculae is an RV Tauri variable, a very bright, cool star that shows deep and shallow changes in brightness.
- WW Vulpeculae is a UX Orionis variable, a young star whose brightness changes due to dust clouds around it.
- VW Vulpeculae is a Z Cam variable, a type of cataclysmic variable star where a white dwarf star pulls material from a companion star.
Stars with Planets
Some stars in Vulpecula have planets orbiting them, just like our Sun! These planets are called exoplanets.
- HD 190228 has a planet called HD 190228 b.
- HD 189733 has a transiting planet called HD 189733 b. This means the planet passes directly in front of its star from our view, causing a tiny dip in the star's brightness.
- HD 188015 has a planet called HD 188015 b.
- HD 203030 has a planet called HD 203030 b.
- HAT-P-49 also has a planet called HD 340099 b.
- TOI-5205 has a transiting exoplanet, TOI-5205 b, which is a very large planet orbiting a small, cool star.
Other Unique Stars
Vulpecula is home to many other unique and interesting celestial objects.
Pulsars
Pulsars are incredibly dense, rapidly spinning neutron stars that send out beams of radio waves, like a cosmic lighthouse. When these beams sweep past Earth, we detect them as regular pulses.
- PSR B1919+21 was the very first pulsar ever discovered, in 1967! This discovery was a huge moment in astronomy.
- PSR B1930+22 and PSR B2020+28 are other pulsars in Vulpecula.
- PSR B1937+21 and PSR B1953+29 are millisecond pulsars, which spin hundreds of times per second!
Novae
A nova is a sudden, dramatic brightening of a star, usually in a binary system where a white dwarf star pulls material from a companion star. This material builds up on the white dwarf's surface until it explodes, causing a huge increase in brightness.
- LV Vulpeculae, PW Vulpeculae, QU Vulpeculae, NQ Vulpeculae, V458 Vulpeculae, and QV Vulpeculae are all novae that have been observed in Vulpecula.
- CK Vulpeculae is a very famous nova, also known as Anthelm's Star, which was observed in 1670. It was once very bright but is now very faint.
- PU Vulpeculae is another nova, which is actually a binary system with a hot star and a cool giant star.
White Dwarfs
A white dwarf is what's left of a star like our Sun after it runs out of fuel. It's a very dense, small, and hot core.
- Wolf 1346 is a white dwarf star in Vulpecula.
- G 185-32 and GD 385 are special types of white dwarfs called pulsating white dwarfs, meaning their brightness changes slightly as they vibrate.
Other Interesting Stars
- HIP 100963 is a solar twin, meaning it's very similar to our own Sun in terms of its size, temperature, and chemical makeup. It's about 92 light-years away.
- ER Vulpeculae is a W Ursae Majoris variable, a type of binary star where the two stars are so close they share their outer layers.
- HD 186943 is a rare and very hot star called a Wolf–Rayet star. These stars are very massive and are losing a lot of their mass into space. It's also an eclipsing binary.
- HD 201626 is a CH star, a type of star that has a lot of carbon in its atmosphere.
- XTE J1859+226 is a low-mass X-ray binary, a system where a compact object (like a black hole or neutron star) pulls gas from a normal star, emitting X-rays.
- QQ Vulpeculae is an AM Herculis variable, a type of binary star where a magnetic white dwarf pulls material from a companion star.
- V407 Vulpeculae is an AM Canum Veniculorum variable, a rare type of binary star where both stars are white dwarfs.
See also
- List of stars by constellation
- SGR 1935+2154
