Detection of an apparent Star 2.1 Arcsec from the Circumstellar Disk Candidate Epsilon Sagittarii
Abstract
Optical images of the infrared excess star Epsilon Sagittarii obtained in 1990 and 1992 with the Adaptive Optics Coronagraph reveal a pointlike source, presumably a star, approximately 2.1 arcsec from Epsilon Sgr. Although the star appears partially occulted by the coronagraphic mask in the 1990 V- and R-band images, it is clearly resolved in the 1992 I-band image obtained with a smaller mask. Estimates of the V, R, and I magnitudes of the star are 7.7, 7.7, and 7.0, respectively. However, the large uncertainties in these estimates preclude an accurate assessment of the star's spectral type. Although the proximity of the star to Epsilon Sgr supports the hypothesis that previously reported optical and UV spectra of Epsilon Sgr are composite, the star appears too faint to account for the noted spectral anomalies. We speculate, however, that a K- or M-type companion to Epsilon Sgr may explain the observed infrared excess.
- Publication:
-
The Astronomical Journal
- Pub Date:
- March 1993
- DOI:
- 10.1086/116498
- Bibcode:
- 1993AJ....105.1108G
- Keywords:
-
- Astronomical Photography;
- Infrared Stars;
- Stellar Envelopes;
- Astronomical Catalogs;
- Binary Stars;
- Companion Stars;
- Halos;
- Astronomy;
- CIRCUMSTELLAR MATTER;
- INFRARED: STARS;
- STARS: INDIVIDUAL: EPSILON SAGITTARII