Meissa
{{Short description|Star in the constellation Orion}}
{{Starbox begin
| name = Meissa
}}
{{Starbox image
|image=
{{Location mark
|image=Orion constellation map.svg|alt=|float=center|width=260
|label=|position=right
|mark=Red circle.svg|mark_width=10|mark_link=λ
|x=586|y=242
}}
|caption=λ (circled) in the constellation Orion.
}}
{{Starbox observe 2s
| epoch = J2000
| constell = Orion
| component1 = A
| dec1 = {{DEC|+09|56|02.9913}}
| component2 = B
| dec2 = {{DEC|+09|56|06.0995}}
}}
{{Starbox character
| component = A
| variable =
}}
{{Starbox character|no_heading=y
| component = B
| variable =
}}
{{Starbox astrometry
}}
{{Starbox astrometry|no_heading=y
| component1 = A
| parallax = 2.5936
| p_error = 0.4032
| absmag_v = −4.25
| component2 = B
| parallax2 = 2.4682
| p_error2 = 0.1543
| absmag_v2 = −1.94
}}
{{Starbox detail
| component1 = A
| luminosity = {{val|200,000|117000|74000|fmt=commas}}
| luminosity_bolometric =
| luminosity_visual =
| temperature = {{val|36000|900|fmt=commas}}
| rotation =
| rotational_velocity =
| component2 = B
| gravity2 = {{val|4.21|0.10}}
}}
{{Starbox catalog
| names=λ Orionis, 39 Orionis, 101 G. Orionis, BD+09°879, HIP 26207, SAO 112921
| component1 = A
| component2 = B
| names2 = HD 36862, HR 1880
}}
{{Starbox reference
| Simbad=HIP+26207|sn=λ Ori
| Simbad2=HD+36861|sn2=A
| Simbad3=HD+36862|sn3=B
}}
{{Starbox end}}
Meissa {{IPAc-en|'|m|ai|s|@}}, designated Lambda Orionis (λ Orionis, abbreviated Lambda Ori, λ Ori) is a star in the constellation of Orion. It is a multiple star approximately {{val|1,300|ul=ly|fmt=commas}} away with a combined apparent magnitude of 3.33.{{cite journal |bibcode=2002yCat.2237....0D |title=VizieR Online Data Catalog: Catalogue ofStellar Photometry in Johnson's 11-color system |journal=CDS/ADC Collection of Electronic Catalogues |volume=2237 |last1=Ducati |first1=J. R. |year=2002 }} The main components are an O8 giant star and a B-class main sequence star, separated by about 4″. Despite Meissa being more luminous and only slightly further away than Rigel, it appears 3 magnitudes dimmer at visual wavelengths, with much of its radiation emitted in the ultraviolet due to its high temperature.
Nomenclature
Lambda Orionis is the star's Bayer designation. The traditional name Meissa derives from the Arabic Al-Maisan which means 'The Shining One'. Al-Maisan was originally used for Gamma Geminorum, but was mistakenly applied to Lambda Orionis and the name stuck. In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN){{cite web | url=https://www.iau.org/science/scientific_bodies/working_groups/280/ | title=IAU Working Group on Star Names (WGSN)|access-date=22 May 2016}} to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN's first bulletin of July 2016{{cite web | url=http://www.pas.rochester.edu/~emamajek/WGSN/WGSN_bulletin1.pdf | title=Bulletin of the IAU Working Group on Star Names, No. 1 |access-date=28 July 2016}} included a table of the first two batches of names approved by the WGSN; which included Meissa for this star. It is now so entered in the IAU Catalog of Star Names.{{cite web | url=http://www.pas.rochester.edu/~emamajek/WGSN/IAU-CSN.txt | title=IAU Catalog of Star Names |access-date=28 July 2016}}
The original Arabic name for this star, Al Hakah (the source for another name for it, Heka) refers to the Arabic lunar mansion that includes this star and the two of Phi Orionis (Al Haḳʽah, 'a White Spot').{{Cite book | last=Allen | first=R. H. | year=1963 | author-link=Richard Hinckley Allen | title=Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning | url=https://archive.org/details/starnamestheirlo00alle/page/318 | access-date=2011-07-16 | edition=Reprint | publisher=Dover Publications Inc | location=New York, NY | isbn=0486210790 | page=[https://archive.org/details/starnamestheirlo00alle/page/318 318] | url-access=registration }} In Chinese, {{lang|zh|觜宿}} ({{lang|zh-Latn|Zī Sù}}), meaning Turtle Beak, refers to an asterism consisting of Meissa and both of Phi Orionis{{in lang|zh}} 中國星座神話, written by 陳久金. Published by 台灣書房出版有限公司, 2005, {{ISBN|9789867332257}}. Consequently, the Chinese name for Meissa itself is {{lang|zh|觜宿一}} ({{lang|zh-Latn|Zī Sù yī}}, {{langx|en|the First Star of Turtle Beak}}.){{in lang|zh}} [http://aeea.nmns.edu.tw/2006/0605/ap060524.html AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) 天文教育資訊網 2006 年 5 月 24 日] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716121915/http://aeea.nmns.edu.tw/2006/0605/ap060524.html |date=2011-07-16 }}
Properties
Meissa is a giant star with a stellar classification of O8 III and an apparent visible magnitude 3.54. It is an enormous star with about 34 times the mass of the Sun and 10 times the Sun's radius. The outer atmosphere has an effective temperature of around 35,000 K, giving it the characteristic blue glow of a hot O-type star. Meissa is a soft X-ray source with a luminosity of 1032 erg s−1 and peak emission in the energy range of 0.2–0.3 keV, which suggests the X-rays are probably being generated by the stellar wind. The stellar wind of Meissa is well characterized by a mass-loss rate of {{val|2.5|e=−8}} solar masses per year and a terminal velocity of {{val|2000|u=km/s|fmt=commas}}.
Meissa is actually a double star with a companion at an angular separation of 4.41 arcseconds along a position angle of 43.12° (as of 1937). This fainter component is of magnitude 5.61 and it has a stellar classification of B0.5 V, making it a B-type main sequence star.{{cite journal|doi=10.1086/300234 |title=ICCD Speckle Observations of Binary Stars. XIX. An Astrometric/Spectroscopic Survey of O Stars |date=1998 |last1=Mason |first1=Brian D. |last2=Gies |first2=Douglas R. |last3=Hartkopf |first3=William I. |last4=Bagnuolo, Jr. |first4=William G. |last5=Ten Brummelaar |first5=Theo |last6=McAlister |first6=Harold A. |journal=The Astronomical Journal |volume=115 |issue=2 |pages=821–847 |bibcode=1998AJ....115..821M }} There is an outlying component, Meissa C, which is an F-type main sequence star with a classification of F8 V. This star in turn may have a very low mass companion that is probably a brown dwarf.
In 2018, a companion was detected around Meissa A, with a project separation of 10.13 mas. However, it was not detected again.{{cite journal| bibcode=2023A&A...672A...6L|arxiv=2302.03168 |doi=10.1051/0004-6361/202245364 |title=Multiplicity of northern bright O-type stars with optical long baseline interferometry |date=2023 |last1=Lanthermann |first1=C. |last2=Le Bouquin |first2=J.-B. |last3=Sana |first3=H. |last4=Mérand |first4=A. |last5=Monnier |first5=J. D. |last6=Perraut |first6=K. |last7=Frost |first7=A. J. |last8=Mahy |first8=L. |last9=Gosset |first9=E. |last10=De Becker |first10=M. |last11=Kraus |first11=S. |last12=Anugu |first12=N. |last13=Davies |first13=C. L. |last14=Ennis |first14=J. |last15=Gardner |first15=T. |last16=Labdon |first16=A. |last17=Setterholm |first17=B. |last18=Ten Brummelaar |first18=T. |last19=Schaefer |first19=G. H. |journal=Astronomy & Astrophysics |volume=672 |pages=A6 |pmid=36974081 }}
Ring
File:Orion's Big Head Revealed in Infrared.jpg infrared view of the ring around Meissa, which is the faint "white" star north of the small bright red nebula.
(NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA)]]
Meissa is surrounded by a ring of nebulosity about 12 degrees across. It is thought to be the remains of a supernova explosion, now ionized by the ultraviolet radiation from Meissa itself and some of the surrounding hot stars.
Cluster
This star is the dominant member of a 5-million-year-old star-forming region known as the λ Orionis cluster, or Collinder 69. The intense ultraviolet energy being radiated by this star is creating the Sh2-264 H II region in the neighboring volume of space, which in turn is surrounded by an expanding ring of cool gas that has an age of about 2–6 million years. The expansion of this gaseous ring may be explained by a former binary companion of Meissa that became a Type II supernova. Such an event would also explain the star's peculiar velocity with respect to the center of the expanding ring, as the explosion and resulting mass loss could have kicked Meissa out of the system. A potential candidate for the supernova remnant is the neutron star Geminga. However, the last is unlikely given the distance between Geminga and the cluster.
Gallery
File:Lambda Orionis ABC.jpg|Lambda Orionis A, B and C. Background image was taken with Spitzer and insert showing the AB components is from Gemini
File:Proplyd Lambda Orionis.png|alt=This image taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope shows two low-mass stars in the rectangles that show tails in the 24 Micron filter image. This is seen as signs that Meissa is photoevaporating the disks of these low-mass stars.[19]|This image taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope shows two low-mass stars in the rectangles that show tails in the 24 Micron filter image. This is seen as signs that Meissa is photoevaporating the disks of these low-mass stars.{{Cite journal |last1=Thévenot |first1=Melina |last2=Doll |first2=Katharina |last3=Durantini Luca |first3=Hugo A. |date=2019-07-01 |title=Photoevaporation of Two Proplyds in the Star Cluster Collinder 69 Discovered with Spitzer MIPS |journal=Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society |volume=3 |issue=7 |pages=95 |doi=10.3847/2515-5172/ab30c5 |bibcode=2019RNAAS...3...95T |s2cid=199137075 |issn=2515-5172 |doi-access=free }}
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References
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
{{cite Gaia DR3|3337991583943473280}}
{{cite Gaia DR3|3337991583942616704}}
{{cite web|title=The Colour of Stars |date=December 21, 2004 |work=Australia Telescope, Outreach and Education |publisher=Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation |url=http://outreach.atnf.csiro.au/education/senior/astrophysics/photometry_colour.html |access-date=2012-01-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318151427/http://outreach.atnf.csiro.au/education/senior/astrophysics/photometry_colour.html |archive-date=March 18, 2012 }}
| title=Internal motions in OB associations with Gaia DR2
| last1=Melnik | first1=A. M. | last2=Dambis | first2=A. K.
| journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
| volume=493 | issue=2 | pages=2339–2351
| date=April 2020 | doi=10.1093/mnras/staa454
| doi-access=free | arxiv=2002.05044 | bibcode=2020MNRAS.493.2339M }}
}}
{{Stars of Orion}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meissa}}
Category:Orion molecular cloud complex
Category:B-type main-sequence stars