MWC 480 is a single[4] star, about 500 light-years away in the constellation of Auriga. It is located in the Taurus-Auriga Star-Forming Region.[8] The name refers to the Mount Wilson Catalog of B and A stars with bright hydrogen lines in their spectra.[9] With an apparent magnitude of 7.62,[3] it is too faint to be seen with the naked eye.
Observation data Epoch J2000 Equinox J2000 | |
---|---|
Constellation | Auriga |
Right ascension | 04h 58m 46.2654s[2] |
Declination | +29° 50′ 36.990″[2] |
Apparent magnitude (V) | 7.62[3] |
Characteristics | |
Spectral type | A3psh3+[4] |
Astrometry | |
Proper motion (μ) | RA: 4.793[2] mas/yr Dec.: -25.348[2] mas/yr |
Parallax (π) | 6.1815 ± 0.0761 mas[2] |
Distance | 528 ± 6 ly (162 ± 2 pc) |
Details | |
Mass | 1.7-2.3[5] M☉ |
Radius | 1.67[4] R☉ |
Luminosity | 11.2[4] L☉ |
Temperature | 8250[3] K |
Rotational velocity (v sin i) | 102.0 ± 5.0[6] km/s |
Age | 6–7.1[5] Myr |
Other designations | |
Database references | |
SIMBAD | data |
MWC 480 is a young Herbig Ae/Be star, a class of young stars with spectral types of A or B, but are quite young and are still not main-sequence stars. MWC 480 is about 7 million years old.[5] It is about twice the mass of the Sun,[5] and is estimated to be about 1.67 solar radii.[4]
MWC 480 has X-ray emissions typical of a pre-main-sequence Herbig Ae/Be star but with an order of magnitude more photoelectric absorption.[4] It has a gas-dust envelope and is surrounded by a protoplanetary disc that is about 11% the mass of the Sun.[5] The disc is inclined about 37° towards the line of sight, on a position angle of about 148°.[5] Astronomers using the ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) have found that the protoplanetary disc surrounding MWC 480 contains large amounts of methyl cyanide (CH3CN), a complex carbon-based molecule.[10] Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) has also been detected in the disc.[11] No signs of planet formation have yet been detected.
In 2021, an imaging of the gas flows in the circumstellar disk has suggested a presence of shrouded Jupiter-mass planet about 245 AU from the star.[12]