Observation by Colin Henshaw: Pi1 Gruis.

Uploaded by

Colin Henshaw

Observer

Colin Henshaw

Observed

2018 Jun 14 - 22:07

Uploaded

2018 Jun 15 - 11:57

Objects

π¹-Gru

Equipment

Canon 6D Camera and a 135mm Carl Zeiss Telephoto lens,

Exposure

1 second at 2000ASA and f5.6.

Location

Briga Township, Tabuk, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Target name

Pi1 Gruis

Title

Pi1 Gruis.

About this image

Pi1 Gruis is a red semi-regular variable star that is not visible from the U.K. Recent observations have revealed a diameter of 21 milliarc seconds. It is one of the brightest stars in the sky of spectral type S, at S5.7. The disc of the star has been revealed by the E.S.O.'s Very Large Telescope, and it is 350 times the diameter of the Sun. Granulation patterns caused by giant convection cells have been observed on its surface. Each convective cell is about 120 million kilometres across. Its distance is 499 light years +/- 67 light years. It varies between mags 5.4 and 6.7, though it can fade below this. It was observed visually from Zimbabwe and Botswana from 1982 to 1995, and a deep minimum was observed in the early 1990s, though for most of the time it did very little. The close proximity of Pi2 Gruis makes this star a challenging object for visual observation so I am now monitoring it with my camera.

North is up on the image.

http://earthsky.org/space/red-giant-pi1-gruis-convection-granulation-bubbles

Files associated with this observation

IMG_9576-Pi1-Gruis-15-06-2018-01.07UT-1sec-2000ASA-135mmTf-f5.6-2.jpg (80.5 kB)

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David Basey, Jeremy Shears, Peter Carson

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