Abstract
AN EXTREMELY MASSIVE MULTIPLE STAR.—The star 27 Canis Majoris has been examined spectroscopically by Dr. O. Stmve, and found to be a most interesting quadruple system. His results, which are published in the Astrophysical Journal, vol. 65, p. 273, show that two Independent spectra are visible. These are of types B5ne and B8, and correspond to the two principal components of the system, which have a period of revolution of 3.2 years. Each of these components has, in addition, a much shorter period, indicating the presence of invisible companions. The masses of the stars in this system are found to be unusually large, the minimum value of the total mass being 950 times that of the sun. The masses of the two principal pairs (A + B and C + D) are approximately equal, but the ratios A/B and C/D are not known. The mass of each star, however, must be in the average at least 238 times the solar mass. Attempts to attribute the line shifts to causes other than radial velocity are very unsatisfactory, and there seems at present to be no alternative to the acceptance of these enormous masses.
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Our Astronomical Column. Nature 120, 381 (1927). https://doi.org/10.1038/120381a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/120381a0