Gliese 412

Gliese 412

Gliese 412 is a binary star system in the constellation Ursa Major. It is one of the closest stars to our Sun, about 16.0 light-years away (or 4.9 parsecs). This system has two stars that orbit each other. From Earth, they look separated by an angle of 31.4″.

Both stars in Gliese 412 are red dwarf stars. This means they are smaller, cooler, and dimmer than our Sun. Red dwarfs like these are the most common stars in the Milky Way galaxy. Even though they do not shine as brightly, they are very important for learning about how stars form and change.

Studying stars like Gliese 412 helps scientists understand stars better, especially smaller ones that can last much longer than bigger stars. Because Gliese 412 is close to us, it gives astronomers a great chance to observe and study these stars in detail.

History of observations

This star system is called Lalande 21258. It was first seen in 1860 by Friedrich Wilhelm Argelander. He was working on the Bonner Durchmusterung. His helper, Adalbert Krueger, measured how far away it was and named it Argelander's Third Star.

Scientists used special telescopes to look for a hidden companion near the star. They did not find anything like a large planet or a brown dwarf.

Characteristics

Gliese 412 is a pair of stars that move around each other. The two stars are very far apart, about 152 times the distance between the Earth and the Sun. If you were on one star, the other would look very bright in the sky—like the Moon or the planet Venus.

The bigger star is smaller and dimmer than our Sun. The smaller star is even smaller and fainter. Both stars move together as part of our galaxy, the Milky Way.

X-ray source

The smaller star in the Gliese 412 system is called WX Ursae Majoris. It is a kind of star called a flare star. This means its brightness can grow very quickly sometimes. People first saw these changes in 1939.

WX Ursae Majoris sends out X-rays, but the other star in the system does not. Scientists found out about its X-ray emissions by studying the system with the ROSAT satellite.