Star Epsilon Eridani: characteristics and mention in art

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Epsilon Eridani can be seen without a telescope. The IAU named the star in 2015 after a sea giant named Ran. The Arabs called this star As-Sadira. Compared to the Sun, it has 28% luminosity, diameter and mass - 85%. It is believed that life is unlikely to exist in a star system. There is an opinion that a certain number of planets revolve around the star, but how many of them and what they are, could not be found, since the star has a lot of variability, as well as activity.

Observations

The star has been watched for a long time. So, for example, Claudius Ptolemy, a Greek astronomer from Alexandria, included the star in his catalog as early as the second century AD. It was also he who gave the name to the constellation, in ancient Greek "eridan" means "river".

Many astronomical treatises of Eastern explorers in the Middle Ages were based on the catalog presented by Ptolemy. Tycho Brahe also observed the star and included it in his catalog in 1598. ATLater, Epsilon was included in other catalogs of various astronomers, many of them agreed that this body belongs to the third category of stellar magnitudes.

SETI

Philip Morrison and Giuseppe Cocconi made an assumption in 1960: what if extraterrestrial civilizations use radio signals for communication? Astronomer Frank Drake used the Tagil telescope to find these signals from nearby stars Epsilon Eridani and Tau Ceti. Neutral hydrogen was taken as the basis for the observation, or rather, the frequency of its study is 1420 MHz (21 cm). However, despite this experiment and subsequent ones, no signals were found.

In 1977, William McLaughlin made this assumption. In his opinion, some events that can be observed everywhere, for example, a supernova explosion, can be used by aliens to synchronize the reception and transmission of a signal. Although the National Observatory tested this assumption by observing the star for 15 days, no signals were received.

Properties

Since Epsilon Eridani is the nearest star, it could be studied well. If you look at the constellation, then it can be seen in its northern part. Classified as K2 V by the stellar classification system, Epsilon is an orange-red dwarf and the second such closest star after Beta Alpha Centauri. It was found that there is a lot of iron in the chromosphere, compared with the Sun, then 74%.

This is how the artist presents the system.

There is more in the presented videosome interesting information about the star.

The star has a very high magnetic activity, the chromosphere is quite dynamic. Compared to our star, the average strength of the Epsilon magnetic field is more than 40. On average, it rotates around its own axis during 11 Earth days. The chromosphere is quite active, the magnetic field is strong, the rotation speed is relatively fast - all these characteristics are just right for a young star.

Epsilon is believed to be less than a billion years old, but not less than 200 and not more than 800 million. Dust can be seen around the star with a telescope, and it is also believed that this dust surrounds Epsilon in the same way as the belt in the solar system Kuiper. There is also a possibility that there may be water ice in the belt.

Possible planets

There may be several planets near Epsilon. Scientists have tried to find them repeatedly using the radial velocity method, but this has proved difficult due to stellar activity. It is not possible to see the planets directly. When astronomers used infrared observations, they did not find planets with the body mass of Jupiter, although there should be at least 1.

Epsilon Eridani b was discovered in 2000, but the fact is still controversial. Astronomers around the world began the study in 2008. It was finally announced that they had long suspected that there might be a planet there, but no concrete confirmed data was ever presented. A program was launched at the La Silla Observatory to search for the planet, but nothing was confirmed.

So notless there are parameters that define the planet. It is believed that its orbital period is approximately 6.85 years. The mass is still unknown, but it is estimated in relation to Epsilon Eridani. Also, they still cannot decide on the eccentricity of the orbit. Some astronomers are sure that this value is 0.7. However, there must be an asteroid belt nearby, and then this value is incompatible. This is what the proposed planet should look like.

Besides B, there is also C. A dust disk has been simulated on a computer that revolves around Epsilon. At the same time, it was suggested that an old planet is nearby, perhaps at a distance of 40 AU. However, how a planet at such a distance was created was not explained. Perhaps the disk will dissipate, after which a large planet will form, or it may migrate.

Mentioned in art

It has already been stated above that the star is the closest to the Sun, which very often science fiction writers mention it in their writings.

So, for example, if you read Isaac Asimov, then in his novels about a robot you can see a mention of Epsilon Eridani. The Baron, a science fiction writer and biochemist, wrote a work of the same name, in which the main action takes place on this planet.

Sergey Tarmashev also mentioned Epsilon in his cycle called "Ancient".

If you've watched Star Trek, it often mentions the planet Vulcan, where Mr. Spock was born. Fans believe that the actiontakes place on Epsilon.

In the Halo series, there is a planet called Reach in the Epsilon system, where a military fleet is located.

The star was also mentioned in the game "Face of Mankind2", where an ice planet revolves around it, on which a space colony is located.