38 Lyncis

38 Lyncis

38 Lyncis is a multiple star system in the northern constellation of Lynx. It located about 125 light-years from the Sun, based on parallax. When viewed through a moderate telescope, two components—a brighter blue-white star of magnitude 3.9 and a fainter star of magnitude 6.1 that has been described as lilac as well as blue-white—can be seen. The pair have an angular separation of 2.6″ and an estimated period of 429 years. The fainter component is itself a close binary which can only be resolved using speckle interferometry. The two were separated by 0.06″ in 1993 and 0.237″ in 2008, and have an estimated orbital period of 2.1 years. A further faint star, component E 100″ away, is a proper-motion companion. Two other faint companions listed in multiple star catalogues as components C and D are unrelated background objects. 38 Lyncis was given as a standard star for the spectral class of A3 V when the Morgan-Keenan classification system was first defined in 1943, apparently for the two components combined. The primary star, component A, is a class A main sequence star around twice the mass of the sun. An effective temperature of 8,862 K and a radius of 3.09 R☉ mean that it is over thirty times more luminous than the sun. It has been listed as a λ Boötis star, although it is no longer considered to be a member. The fainter of the pair, component B, has been given a spectral class of A4V, although it consists of two very close stars. Their properties are poorly-known, even the difference in their apparent magnitudes can only be estimated to be approximately 2. Based on this, their masses are estimated to be 1.3 M☉ and 0.9 M☉ respectively. Component E is a 15th magnitude star with an approximate spectral type of M2, a red dwarf, and an estimated mass of 0.31 M☉, and a temperature of 3,816 K.

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Eugene Parker.

Lagrange point.

38 Lyncis

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