HD 50064

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title: "HD 50064" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["b-type-supergiants", "luminous-blue-variables", "monoceros", "henry-draper-catalogue-objects", "durchmusterung-objects"] description: "Star in the constellation Monoceros" topic_path: "general/b-type-supergiants" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_50064" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Star in the constellation Monoceros ::

| name = HD 50064}} | image = [[Image:HD50064LightCurve.png|250px]] | caption = A light curve for HD 50064, adapted from Aerts et al. (2010) | epoch = J2000 | constell = Monoceros | ra = | dec = | appmag_v = 8.21 | type = supergiant | class = B6Ia | b-v=+0.76 | u-b=−0.31 | variable=LBV? | radial_v= | prop_mo_ra=−0.053 | prop_mo_dec=+0.534 | parallax=0.1846 | p_error=0.0201 | parallax_footnote= | dist_pc= | dist_ly= | absmag_v= | mass = 45 | radius = 200 | luminosity = 1,260,000 | temperature = 13,500 | gravity = 1.5 | names = HD 50064, BD+00°1651, MWC 536, 2MASS J06513410+0017503, GSC 00148-02328 | Simbad = HD+50064

HD 50064 is a blue supergiant located in the constellation of Monoceros, easy to see with small telescopes.

Characteristics

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/NGC_2301_DSS.jpg" caption="HD 50064 is the bright star (yellowish with visible diffraction spikes) to the south of [[NGC 2301"] ::

Although it appears quite close to the open cluster NGC 2301 it is much farther away and is not a member of the cluster. It is at least 2,900 parsecs away, more than twice the distance of NGC 2301.

HD 50064 has variously been assigned spectral types of B6, B9, and B1, and is readily seen to have a bright supergiant luminosity class. It also shows Hα emission lines with P Cygni profiles, indicating mass loss through a powerful stellar wind.

HD 50064 shows small-amplitude semi-regular pulsations. One strong period of 37 days has been interpreted as a strange mode oscillation and used to calculate the physical structure of the star. A luminosity of approximately 1,260,000 times that of the Sun -placing it among the brightest stars of the Milky Way-, a radius 200 times that of the Sun, and a mass 45 times larguer than the Sun, are derived. The pulsations and its spectrum are similar to those of Luminous blue variables (LBVs). The moderate mass loss suggests that it is an LBV caught pulsating and creating a circumstellar shell.

References

References

1. {{cite constellation. HD 50064
2. (April 2010). "Periodic mass-loss episodes due to an oscillation mode with variable amplitude in the hot supergiant HD 50064". Astronomy and Astrophysics.
3. (1997). "Catalogue of stars in the Northern Milky Way having H-alpha in emission". Abhandlungen aus der Hamburger Sternwarte.
4. (2002). "VizieR Online Data Catalog: Catalogue of Stellar Photometry in Johnson's 11-color system". CDS/ADC Collection of Electronic Catalogues.
5. {{cite Gaia DR3. 3113547759973829120
6. (1990). "Photometry of HD 50064 - A Be supergiant star with a P Cygni profile at H-alpha". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::