Meissa

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Star in the constellation Orion

title: "Meissa" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["bayer-objects", "flamsteed-objects", "orion-molecular-cloud-complex", "o-type-giants", "b-type-main-sequence-stars", "binary-stars", "henry-draper-catalogue-objects", "hipparcos-objects", "orion-(constellation)", "emission-line-stars", "bright-star-catalogue-objects", "durchmusterung-objects", "stars-with-proper-names", "population-i-stars"] description: "Star in the constellation Orion" topic_path: "science/astronomy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meissa" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Star in the constellation Orion ::

| name = Meissa |image= |image=Orion constellation map.svg|alt=|float=center|width=260 |label=|position=right |mark=Red circle.svg|mark_width=10|mark_link=λ |x=586|y=242 |caption=λ (circled) in the constellation Orion. | epoch = J2000 | constell = Orion | component1 = A | ra1 = | dec1 = | appmag_v1 = 3.7 | component2 = B | ra2 = | dec2 = | appmag_v2 = 5.6 | component = A | class = O9 III((f)) | b-v = −0.21 | u-b = −1.01 | variable = | component = B | class = B0 V | b-v = +0.04 | u-b = −0.77 | variable = | radial_v = +30.10 | component1 = A | prop_mo_ra = +2.896 | prop_mo_dec = −3.183 | parallax = 2.5936 | p_error = 0.4032 | parallax_footnote = | absmag_v = −4.25 | component2 = B | prop_mo_ra2 = +2.216 | prop_mo_dec2 = −1.986 | parallax2 = 2.4682 | p_error2 = 0.1543 | parallax_footnote2 = | absmag_v2 = −1.94 | component1 = A | mass = 34 | radius = | luminosity = | luminosity_bolometric = | luminosity_visual = | temperature = | metal_fe = 0.03 | rotation = | rotational_velocity = | gravity = 3.90 | age_myr = 4.2 | component2 = B | mass2 = | radius2 = | luminosity2 = 6,300 | temperature2 = | gravity2 = | age_myr2 = 1.8 | names=λ Orionis, 39 Orionis, 101 G. Orionis, BD+09°879, HIP 26207, SAO 112921 | component1 = A | names1 = HD 36861, HR 1879 | component2 = B | names2 = HD 36862, HR 1880 | Simbad=HIP+26207|sn=λ Ori | Simbad2=HD+36861|sn2=A | Simbad3=HD+36862|sn3=B

Meissa , designated Lambda Orionis (λ Orionis, abbreviated Lambda Ori, λ Ori) is a star in the constellation of Orion. It is a multiple star approximately away with a combined apparent magnitude of 3.33. The main components are an O9 giant star and a B-class main sequence star, separated by about 4″. Despite Meissa being more luminous and only slightly further away than Rigel, it appears 3 magnitudes dimmer at visual wavelengths, with much of its radiation emitted in the ultraviolet due to its high temperature.

Nomenclature

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Lambda_Orionis.jpg" caption="φ2 Orionis"] ::

Lambda Orionis is the star's Bayer designation. The traditional name Meissa derives from the Arabic Al-Maisan which means 'The Shining One'. Al-Maisan was originally used for Gamma Geminorum, but was mistakenly applied to Lambda Orionis and the name stuck. to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN's first bulletin of July 2016 included a table of the first two batches of names approved by the WGSN; which included Meissa for this star. It is now so entered in the IAU Catalog of Star Names.

The original Arabic name for this star, Al Hakah (the source for another name for it, Heka) refers to the Arabic lunar mansion that includes this star and the two of Phi Orionis (Al Haḳʽah, 'a White Spot'). In Chinese, 觜宿 (Zī Sù), meaning Turtle Beak, refers to an asterism consisting of Meissa and both of Phi Orionis Consequently, the Chinese name for Meissa itself is 觜宿一 (Zī Sù yī, .)

Properties

Meissa is a giant star with a stellar classification of O9 III and an apparent visible magnitude 3.54. It is an enormous star with about 34 times the mass of the Sun and 10 times the Sun's radius. The outer atmosphere has an effective temperature of around 35,000 K, giving it the characteristic blue glow of a hot O-type star. Meissa is a soft X-ray source with a luminosity of 1032 erg s−1 and peak emission in the energy range of 0.2–0.3 keV, which suggests the X-rays are probably being generated by the stellar wind. The stellar wind of Meissa is well characterized by a mass-loss rate of solar masses per year and a terminal velocity of .

Meissa is actually a double star with a companion at an angular separation of 4.41 arcseconds along a position angle of 43.12° (as of 1937). There is an outlying component, Meissa C, which is an F-type main sequence star with a classification of F8 V. This star in turn may have a very low mass companion that is probably a brown dwarf.

In 2018, a companion was detected around Meissa A, with a project separation of 10.13 mas. However, it was not detected again.

Ring

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Orion's_Big_Head_Revealed_in_Infrared.jpg" caption="WISE]] [[infrared]] view of the ring around Meissa, which is the faint "white" star north of the small bright red nebula.
(NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA)"] ::

Meissa is surrounded by a ring of nebulosity about 12 degrees across. It is thought to be the remains of a supernova explosion, now ionized by the ultraviolet radiation from Meissa itself and some of the surrounding hot stars.

Cluster

This star is the dominant member of a 5-million-year-old star-forming region known as the λ Orionis cluster, or Collinder 69. The intense ultraviolet energy being radiated by this star is creating the Sh2-264 H II region in the neighboring volume of space, which in turn is surrounded by an expanding ring of cool gas that has an age of about 2–6 million years. The expansion of this gaseous ring may be explained by a former binary companion of Meissa that became a Type II supernova. Such an event would also explain the star's peculiar velocity with respect to the center of the expanding ring, as the explosion and resulting mass loss could have kicked Meissa out of the system. A potential candidate for the supernova remnant is the neutron star Geminga. However, the last is unlikely given the distance between Geminga and the cluster.

Gallery

File:Lambda Orionis ABC.jpg|Lambda Orionis A, B and C. Background image was taken with Spitzer and insert showing the AB components is from Gemini File:Proplyd Lambda Orionis.png|alt=This image taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope shows two low-mass stars in the rectangles that show tails in the 24 Micron filter image. This is seen as signs that Meissa is photoevaporating the disks of these low-mass stars.[19]|This image taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope shows two low-mass stars in the rectangles that show tails in the 24 Micron filter image. This is seen as signs that Meissa is photoevaporating the disks of these low-mass stars.

References

References

  1. (2011). "The Galactic O-Star Spectroscopic Survey. I. Classification System and Bright Northern Stars in the Blue-violet at R ~ 2500". The Astrophysical Journal Supplement.
  2. (2006). "Pulkovo Compilation of Radial Velocities for 35 495 Hipparcos stars in a common system". Astronomy Letters.
  3. (2002). "Surface abundances of light elements for a large sample of early B-type stars - II. Basic parameters of 107 stars". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
  4. (2002). "VizieR Online Data Catalog: Catalogue ofStellar Photometry in Johnson's 11-color system". CDS/ADC Collection of Electronic Catalogues.
  5. "IAU Working Group on Star Names (WGSN)".
  6. "Bulletin of the IAU Working Group on Star Names, No. 1".
  7. "IAU Catalog of Star Names".
  8. Allen, R. H.. (1963). "Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning". Dover Publications Inc.
  9. {{in lang. zh ''中國星座神話'', written by 陳久金. Published by 台灣書房出版有限公司, 2005, {{ISBN. 9789867332257.
  10. {{in lang. zh [http://aeea.nmns.edu.tw/2006/0605/ap060524.html AEEA (Activities of Exhibition and Education in Astronomy) 天文教育資訊網 2006 年 5 月 24 日] {{Webarchive. link. (2011-07-16)
  11. (1998). "ICCD Speckle Observations of Binary Stars. XIX. An Astrometric/Spectroscopic Survey of O Stars". The Astronomical Journal.
  12. (2023). "Multiplicity of northern bright O-type stars with optical long baseline interferometry". Astronomy & Astrophysics.
  13. (2019-07-01). "Photoevaporation of Two Proplyds in the Star Cluster Collinder 69 Discovered with Spitzer MIPS". Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society.
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  15. {{cite Gaia DR3. 3337991583942616704
  16. (December 2018). "Angular Sizes and Effective Temperatures of O-type Stars from Optical Interferometry with the CHARA Array". The Astrophysical Journal.
  17. (2010-09-01). "Probing the evolving massive star population in Orion with kinematic and radioactive tracers". Astronomy and Astrophysics.
  18. (2015). "Spectroscopic Assessment of WISE-based Young Stellar Object Selection Near λ and σ Orionis". The Astronomical Journal.
  19. (September 2009). "A deep look into the core of young clusters. II. λ-Orionis". Astronomy and Astrophysics.
  20. (May 1996). "Is the expanding molecular cloud surrounding λ Orionis caused by a Supernova?". Astronomy and Astrophysics.
  21. (May 2005). "On the local birth place of Geminga". Astronomy and Astrophysics.
  22. (June 2011). "XMM-Newton observations of the young open cluster around λ Orionis". Astronomy & Astrophysics.
  23. (September 1983). "Micrometric measurements of binary stars (first list)". Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Series.
  24. (December 21, 2004). "The Colour of Stars". [[Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation]].
  25. (December 2005). "II International GTC Workshop: Science with GTC 1st-light Instruments and the LMT". Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica, Serie de Conferencias.
  26. (December 1977). "The Lambda Orionis association". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
  27. (August 2019). "Probing the weak wind phenomenon in Galactic O-type giants". Astronomy & Astrophysics.
  28. (2011). "Coudé-feed stellar spectral library - atmospheric parameters". Astronomy and Astrophysics.

::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. ::

bayer-objectsflamsteed-objectsorion-molecular-cloud-complexo-type-giantsb-type-main-sequence-starsbinary-starshenry-draper-catalogue-objectshipparcos-objectsorion-(constellation)emission-line-starsbright-star-catalogue-objectsdurchmusterung-objectsstars-with-proper-namespopulation-i-stars