Mira or Omicron Ceti is a red giant star in Cetus. Prototype for a class of red giant variable stars that pulsate over periods of 100 to 1,000 days. Mira itself pulsates over 331.65 days going from a magnitude 2.0 down to 10.1. The star also undergoes a helium flash period about every 10,000 years. A white dwarf also is in orbit around Mira at 70 AU, and material lost from Mira is accreated by the white dwarf. Not massive enough to end in a black hole, it will eventually lose its out shells and become a white dwarf itself. As it plows through space, the mass lost forms a comet like tail and shock wave bubble in its direction of travel.
Tuesday, 29 December 2020 16:25
Mira
Mira
Additional Info
- Constellation: Cetus
- Right Ascension: 02h 19m 20.79210s
- Declination: –02° 58′ 39.4956″
- Distance (Lightyears): 300
- Telescope: Orion ED80cft Refractor
- Camera: ZWO ASI071 OSC cmos
- Magnitude: 2.0 - 10.1
- Galaxy Type: undefined
- Variable Type: Mira
- B-V Color Index: +1.53
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