Zaniah (Eta Virginis)

This image of the triple star system Eta Virginis is the first ever made by an optical interferometer using the combined beams of 6 separate telescopes. The closer pair of stars have an angular separation of about 5.4 milliarcseconds, equivalent to the size of a US cent coin viewed from a distance of 800 km (500 miles). This level of detail would require a single monolithic telescope mirror in excess of 50 meters in diameter. Credit: U.S. Naval Observatory

A triple star system in the constellation Virgo which, in 2002, became the first object to be imaged by combining the light from multiple telescopes (the Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer), a major breakthrough in optical interferometry. The high-resolution image, which would have required a single instrument with a 50-meter aperture, showed the three components of the system as separate entities for the first time. Zaniah, also known as Zannakh, consists of three A stars: a very close pair separated by just a few milliarcseconds (equivalent to less than half the Earth-Sun distance), and a third component about 0.06" away.

visual magnitude	3.89
absolute magnitude	-0.53
spectral type	A2IV
luminosity	130 L_sun
distance	250 ± 16 light-years (77 ± 5 pc)
position	R.A. 12h 19m 54.4s, Dec. -00° 40' 01"
other designations	15 Virginis, HR 4689, HD 107259, BD+00 2926, FK5 460, HIP 60129, SAO 138721, GC 16813, CCDM 12199-0040

Related category

• NOTABLE STARS

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