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Old May 1st 04, 10:04 PM
Abdul Ahad
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Default The second 'Garnet Star' after Mu Cephei must be 119 Tauri!

119 Tauri is a 4th magnitude star of deep red colour, a few degrees to
the lower right of the Bull's lower horn (which is of course marked by
the the star Zeta Tauri). It caught my eye during a recent, deep sky
binocular sweep of the area. I have since done numerous searches on
Google and it appears that no one has 'actively' acknowledged 119
Tauri's intense red, gem-like colour and, surprisingly, no comparisons
have yet been made with Mu Cephei, the famous 'Garnet Star' named by
William Herschel in the 18th century.

119 Tauri is a type M2Ib supergiant and has a colour index (B-V) of
+2.07. This is just 12% less than the colour index of Mu Cephei,
making both 119 Tauri and Mu Cephei stars amongst the reddest stars in
the sky and virtually of identical brightnesses.

As 119 Tauri has no proper name in any catalogs, I should write to the
International Astronomical Union's star registry asking them to name
it Abdul Ahad's Garnet Star... following William Herschel's lead!
just joking

BTW: What are the rules for naming stars after people's names? I know
there's a lot of scam out there where, for a small fee, people can
*name* stars that have no previous names in any IAU authorised star
catalogs. Are these recognised in Astronomical circles?

Abdul Ahad