Zeta Persei (ζ Per, ζ Persei) is a star in the northern constellation of Perseus. With an apparent visual magnitude of 2.9,[ it can be readily seen with the naked eye. Parallax measurements place it at a distance of about from Earth,][ though measurements of its Ca II lines place it at .][
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Description
This is a lower luminosity supergiant star with a stellar classification of B1 Ib.[ This is an enormous star, with an estimated 26–27][ times the Sun's radius and 13–16 times the Sun's mass.][ It has about 47,000 times the luminosity of the Sun and it is radiating this energy at an effective temperature of 20,800 K,][ giving it the blue-white hue of a B-type star.][ The stellar spectrum displays anomalously high levels of carbon.][ Zeta Persei has a strong stellar wind that is expelling times the mass of the Sun per year, or the equivalent of the Sun's mass every 4.3 million years.][
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Zeta Persei has a 9th magnitude companion at an angular separation of 12.9 . The two stars have the same proper motion, so they may be physically associated. If so, they are separated by at least 4,000 Astronomical Units.[ Zeta Persei is a confirmed member of the Perseus OB2 association (Per OB2), also called the Zeta Persei association, which is a moving group of stars that includes 17 massive, high luminosity members with spectral types of O or B, giving them a blue hue. These stars have a similar trajectory through space,][ suggesting they originated in the same molecular cloud and are about the same age.][
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Ambiguity
Some sources, including Starry Night (planetarium software), an atlas,[ Your Sky Object Catalogue: Named Stars] attribute the name 'Atik' to Zeta Persei instead of nearby Omicron Persei.
See also
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HD 121228 - Same spectral class
External links
