An A-type main-sequence star (A V) or A dwarf star is a main-sequence (hydrogen-burning) star of spectral type A and luminosity class V. These stars have spectra which are defined by strong hydrogen Balmer absorption lines.[1][2] They have masses from 1.4 to 2.1 times the mass of the Sun and surface temperatures between 7600 and 10,000 K.[3] Bright and nearby examples are Altair (A7 V), Sirius A (A1 V), and Vega (A0 V).[4] A-type stars don't have a convective zone and thus aren't expected to harbor a magnetic dynamo. As a consequence, because they don't have strong stellar winds they lack a means to generate X-ray emission.[5]
In July 2019, astronomers reported finding an A-type star, S5-HVS1, traveling 1,755 km/s (3,930,000 mph), faster that any other star detected so far. The star is in the Grus (or Crane) constellation in the southern sky, and about 29,000 light-years from Earth, and may have been ejected out of the Milky Way galaxy after interacting with Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy.[6][7][8][9][10]
Spectral standard stars
Typical characteristics[11] Stellar
Class Mass
(M☉) Radius
(R☉) Mv Teff
(K)
A0V 2.40 1.87 0.7 9727
A2V 2.19 1.78 1.3 8820
A5V 1.86 1.69 2. 7880
A6V 1.8 1.66 2.1 7672
A7V 1.74 1.63 2.3 7483
A8V 1.66 1.6 2.4 7305
A9V 1.62 1.55 2.5 7112
The revised Yerkes Atlas system[12] listed a dense grid of A-type dwarf spectral standard stars, but not all of these have survived to this day as standards. The "anchor points" and "dagger standards" of the MK spectral classification system among the A-type main-sequence dwarf stars, i.e. those standard stars that have remained unchanged over years and can be considered to define the system, are Vega (A0 V), Gamma Ursae Majoris (A0 V), and Fomalhaut (A3 V).[13][14] The seminal review of MK classification by Morgan & Keenan (1973)[14] didn't provide any dagger standards between types A3 V and F2 V. HD 23886 was suggested as an A5 V standard in 1978.[15] Richard Gray & Robert Garrison provided the most recent contributions to the A dwarf spectral sequence in a pair of papers in 1987[16] and 1989.[17] They list an assortment of fast- and slow-rotating A-type dwarf spectral standards, including HD 45320 (A1 V), HD 88955 (A2 V), 2 Hydri (A7 V), 21 Leonis Minoris (A7 V), and 44 Ceti (A9 V). Besides the MK standards provided in Morgan's papers and the Gray & Garrison papers, one also occasionally sees Delta Leonis (A4 V) listed as a standard. There are no published A6 V and A8 V standard stars.
The Morgan-Keenan spectral classification
Planets
A-type stars are young (typically few hundred million years old) and many emit infrared (IR) radiation beyond what would be expected from the star alone. This IR excess is attributable to dust emission from a debris disk where planets form.[18] Surveys indicate massive planets commonly form around A-type stars although these planets are difficult to detect using the Doppler spectroscopy method. This is because A-type stars typically rotate very quickly, which makes it difficult to measure the small Doppler shifts induced by orbiting planets since the spectral lines are very broad.[19] However, this type of massive star eventually evolves into a cooler red giant which rotates more slowly and thus can be measured using the radial velocity method.[19] As of early 2011 about 30 Jupiter class planets have been found around evolved K-giant stars including Pollux, Gamma Cephei and Iota Draconis. Doppler surveys around a wide variety of stars indicate about 1 in 6 stars having twice the mass of the Sun are orbited by one or more Jupiter-sized planets, compared to about 1 in 16 for Sun-like stars. [20]
A-type star systems known to feature planets include Fomalhaut, HD 15082, Beta Pictoris, and HD 95086.
Examples
Name Spectral
type Constellation vis Mag Mass
(M☉) Radius
(R☉) Luminosity
(L☉) Distance
(ly)
Altair A7 V Aquila 0.76 1.79 1.63-2.03 10.6 16.73
Sirius A0mA1 Va Canis Major -1.47 2.063 1.711 25.4 8.60 ± 0.04
Vega A0 Va Lyra 0.026 2.135 2.362 × 2.818 40.12 25.04
See also
Star count, survey of stars
B-type main-sequence star
References
Stellar Spectral Types, entry at hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu, accessed on line June 19, 2007.
"An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics" by B.W Caroll and D.A Ostlie 1996 edition, chapter 8
Empirical bolometric corrections for the main-sequence, G. M. H. J. Habets and J. R. W. Heintze, Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement 46 (November 1981), pp. 193–237, Tables VII and VIII.
SIMBAD, entries on Sirius A and Vega, accessed June 19, 2007.
Schröder, C.; Schmitt, J. H. M. M. (November 2007), "X-ray emission from A-type stars", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 475 (2): 677–684, Bibcode:2007A&A...475..677S, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20077429.
Overbye, Dennis (14 November 2019). "A Black Hole Threw a Star Out of the Milky Way Galaxy - So long, S5-HVS1, we hardly knew you". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
Koposov, Sergey E.; et al. (2019). "Discovery of a nearby 1700 km/s star ejected from the Milky Way by Sgr A*". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. arXiv:1907.11725. doi:10.1093/mnras/stz3081. S2CID 198968336.
Starr, Michelle (31 July 2019). "Bizarre Star Found Hurtling Out of Our Galaxy Centre Is Fastest of Its Kind Ever Seen". ScienceAlert.com. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
Irving, Michael (13 November 2019). "Fastest star ever found is being flicked out of the Milky Way". NewAtlas.com. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
Plait, Phil (13 November 2019). "Our Local Supermassive Black Hole Shot A Star Right Out Of THe Galaxy". Bad Astronomy. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
Adelman, S. J. (2005). "The physical properties of normal A stars". Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union. 2004: 1–11. Bibcode:2004IAUS..224....1A. doi:10.1017/S1743921304004314.
Fundamental stellar photometry for standards of spectral type on the revised system of the Yerkes spectral atlas H.L. Johnson & W.W. Morgan, 1953, Astrophysical Journal, 117, 313
MK ANCHOR POINTS, Robert F. Garrison
Spectral Classification, W.W. Morgan & P.C. Keenan, 1973, Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics, vol. 11, p.29
Revised MK Spectral Atlas for stars earlier than the sun, W.W. Morgan, W. W., H.A. Abt, J.W. Tapscott, 1978, Williams Bay: Yerkes Observatory, and Tucson: Kitt Peak National Observatory
The early A type stars – Refined MK classification, confrontation with Stroemgren photometry, and the effects of rotation, R.O. Gray & R.F. Garrison, 1987, Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, vol. 65, p. 581
The late A-type stars – Refined MK classification, confrontation with Stromgren photometry, and the effects of rotation, R.O. Gray & R.F. Garrison, 1989, Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, vol. 70, p. 623
Song, Inseok; et al. (2002), "M-Type Vega-like Stars", The Astronomical Journal, 124 (1): 514–518, arXiv:astro-ph/0204255, Bibcode:2002AJ....124..514S, doi:10.1086/341164, S2CID 3450920
Retired A Stars and Their Companions: Exoplanets Orbiting Three Intermediate-Mass Subgiants, John A. Johnson, Debra A. Fischer, Geoffrey W. Marcy, Jason T. Wright, Peter Driscoll, R. P. Butler, Saskia Hekker, Sabine Reffert, Steven S. Vogt, 19 Apr 2007
Johnson, J. A. (2011). "The Stars that Host Planets". Sky & Telescope (April): 22–27.
vte
Accretion Molecular cloud Bok globule Young stellar object
Protostar Pre-main-sequence Herbig Ae/Be T Tauri FU Orionis Herbig–Haro object Hayashi track Henyey track
Main sequence Red-giant branch Horizontal branch
Red clump Asymptotic giant branch
super-AGB Blue loop Protoplanetary nebula Planetary nebula PG1159 Dredge-up OH/IR Instability strip Luminous blue variable Blue straggler Stellar population Supernova Superluminous supernova / Hypernova
Early Late Main sequence
O B A F G K M Brown dwarf WR OB Subdwarf
O B Subgiant Giant
Blue Red Yellow Bright giant Supergiant
Blue Red Yellow Hypergiant
Yellow Carbon
S CN CH White dwarf Chemically peculiar
Am Ap/Bp HgMn Helium-weak Barium Extreme helium Lambda Boötis Lead Technetium Be
Shell B[e]
White dwarf
Helium planet Black dwarf Neutron
Radio-quiet Pulsar
Binary X-ray Magnetar Stellar black hole X-ray binary
Burster
Hypothetical
Blue dwarf Green Black dwarf Exotic
Boson Electroweak Strange Preon Planck Dark Dark-energy Quark Q Black Gravastar Frozen Quasi-star Thorne–Żytkow object Iron Blitzar
Deuterium burning Lithium burning Proton–proton chain CNO cycle Helium flash Triple-alpha process Alpha process Carbon burning Neon burning Oxygen burning Silicon burning S-process R-process Fusor Nova
Symbiotic Remnant Luminous red nova
Structure
Core Convection zone
Microturbulence Oscillations Radiation zone Atmosphere
Photosphere Starspot Chromosphere Stellar corona Stellar wind
Bubble Bipolar outflow Accretion disk Asteroseismology
Helioseismology Eddington luminosity Kelvin–Helmholtz mechanism
Properties
Designation Dynamics Effective temperature Luminosity Kinematics Magnetic field Absolute magnitude Mass Metallicity Rotation Starlight Variable Photometric system Color index Hertzsprung–Russell diagram Color–color diagram
Star systems
Binary
Contact Common envelope Eclipsing Symbiotic Multiple Cluster
Open Globular Super Planetary system
Earth-centric
observations
Sun
Solar System Sunlight Pole star Circumpolar Constellation Asterism Magnitude
Apparent Extinction Photographic Radial velocity Proper motion Parallax Photometric-standard
Lists
Proper names
Arabic Chinese Extremes Most massive Highest temperature Lowest temperature Largest volume Smallest volume Brightest
Historical Most luminous Nearest
Nearest bright With exoplanets Brown dwarfs White dwarfs Milky Way novae Supernovae
Candidates Remnants Planetary nebulae Timeline of stellar astronomy
Related articles
Substellar object
Brown dwarf Sub-brown dwarf Planet Galactic year Galaxy Guest Gravity Intergalactic Planet-hosting stars Tidal disruption event
Hellenica World - Scientific Library
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/"
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
