38_Geminorum
38 Geminorum
Binary star system in the constellation Gemini
38 Geminorum is a binary star system in the northern zodiac constellation of Gemini. It has the Bayer designation e Geminorum, while 38 Geminorum is the Flamsteed designation. This system is visible to the naked eye as a faint, white-hued point of light with an apparent visual magnitude of 4.71. The primary component is a magnitude 4.75 star, while the secondary is magnitude 7.80.[2] The system is located about 98 light years away from the Sun based on parallax, and is drifting further away with a radial velocity of +16 km/s.[14] It is a potential member of the Tucana–Horologium stellar kinematic group.[15]
This is a wide binary system with a projected separation of 184.3 AU.[10] Two sets of low quality orbital elements have been computed for this system, yielding periods of 1,943.8 years and 3,190 years, and eccentricities of 0.150 and 0.485, respectively.[16] As of 2018, the pair had an angular separation of 7.4″ along a position angle of 143°.[2]
Abt and Morrell (1995) classified the primary component as an A-type main-sequence star with a stellar classification of A8V.[3] It is a suspected chemically peculiar star of subtype CP1 (an Am star),[13] which Slettebak (1955) classified as kA8mF0Vp.[17] This notation indicates the star displays the calcium K line of an A8 star and the metal lines of an F0V star. In 1949, J. Hopmann catalogued it as a suspected Delta Scuti variable.[6] The secondary is a G-type main-sequence star with a class of G6V.[4]