Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 18, 2026

66 Tauri

66 Tauri, also known as r Tauri, is a binary star in the constellation of Taurus. The combined apparent magnitude of the system is 5.098, with the magnitudes of the two components being 5.8 and 5.9, respectively. Parallax measurements by Hipparcos put 66 Tauri at some 400 light-years away.

Last revised
Jul 18, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
Length
438 w
Citations
24
Source
66 Tauri
Observation data
Epoch J2000      Equinox J2000
Constellation Taurus
Right ascension 04h 23m 51.82553s1
Declination +09° 27′ 39.4939″1
Apparent magnitude (V) 5.0982 (5.8 / 5.9)3
Characteristics
Spectral type A3V + A4V4
U−B color index +0.105
B−V color index +0.075
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)−8.70±16 km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: −20.321 mas/yr
Dec.: −5.321 mas/yr
Parallax (π)8.24±0.31 mas1
Distance400 ± 10 ly
(121 ± 5 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)−0.327
Orbit3
Period (P)54.77 yr
Semi-major axis (a)0.188″
Eccentricity (e)0.720
Inclination (i)34.2°
Longitude of the node (Ω)239.8°
Periastron epoch (T)1937.24
Argument of periastron (ω)
(secondary)
332.0°
Details
66 Tau A
Mass2.898note 1 M
Rotational velocity (v sin i)819 km/s
66 Tau B
Mass2.768note 1 M
Other designations
r Tau, BD+09°570, HD 27820, HIP 20522, HR 1381, SAO 111791
Database references
SIMBADdata

66 Tauri, also known as r Tauri, is a binary star in the constellation of Taurus. The combined apparent magnitude of the system is 5.098,2 with the magnitudes of the two components being 5.8 and 5.9, respectively.3 Parallax measurements by Hipparcos put 66 Tauri at some 400 light-years (121 parsecs) away.1

This is a visual binary where the positions of the two stars are tracked over time, and used to calculate an orbit. The two stars orbit each other every 55 years.3 Their orbit is fairly eccentric, at 0.720, and the two stars are separated by 0.188 on average.3 Both stars are A-type main-sequence stars with similar masses.8

Notes

Notes

  1. Cvetkovic et al. gives two possible mass sums: 2.89 / 2.76 M or 2.88 / 2.77 M.
References

References

  1. van Leeuwen, F.; et al. (2007). "Validation of the new Hipparcos reduction". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 474 (2): 653–664. arXiv:0708.1752. Bibcode:2007A&A...474..653V. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20078357. S2CID 18759600.
  2. Høg, E.; et al. (2000). "The Tycho-2 catalogue of the 2.5 million brightest stars". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 355: L27–L30. Bibcode:2000A&A...355L..27H.
  3. "Sixth Catalog of Orbits of Visual Binary Stars". United States Naval Observatory. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  4. Christy, James W.; Walker, R. L. Jr. (1969). "MK Classification of 142 Visual Binaries". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 81 (482): 643. Bibcode:1969PASP...81..643C. doi:10.1086/128831.
  5. Mermilliod, J.-C. (1986). "Compilation of Eggen's UBV data, transformed to UBV (unpublished)". Catalogue of Eggen's UBV Data. Bibcode:1986EgUBV........0M.
  6. Gontcharov, G. A. (2006). "Pulkovo Compilation of Radial Velocities for 35 495 Hipparcos stars in a common system". Astronomy Letters. 32 (11): 759–771. arXiv:1606.08053. Bibcode:2006AstL...32..759G. doi:10.1134/S1063773706110065. S2CID 119231169.
  7. Anderson, E.; Francis, Ch. (2012). "XHIP: An extended hipparcos compilation". Astronomy Letters. 38 (5): 331. arXiv:1108.4971. Bibcode:2012AstL...38..331A. doi:10.1134/S1063773712050015. S2CID 119257644.
  8. Cvetkovic, Z.; Ninkovic, S. (2010). "On the Component Masses of Visual Binaries". Serbian Astronomical Journal. 180 (180): 71–80. Bibcode:2010SerAJ.180...71C. doi:10.2298/SAJ1080071C.
  9. Royer, F.; Zorec, J.; Gómez, A. E. (2007). "Rotational velocities of A-type stars". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 463 (2): 671. arXiv:astro-ph/0610785. Bibcode:2007A&A...463..671R. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20065224. S2CID 18475298.