61 Cygni AB

Star type
g A: K5 V
g B: K7 V

Distance from Earth
g 11.43 ly

Star Service No.
g NA

Age
g Likely older than Sol (they do not rotate rapidly and the system exhibits moderately high U,V,W velocities in their galactic orbital motion)

Diameter/Mass/Temp (xSol)
g A: 105%; 60%; 4450 K
g B: 75%; 50; 4120 K

Brightness (xSol)
g A: 8%
g B: 4%

Metallicity
g A: 79%
g B: 79%

Comparison to Sol
g A: NA
g B: NA

Picture of stars
g See picture
g See picture at upper right (courtesy of ESO Online Digitized Sky Survey)

Star system features
g Highly elliptical orbit (e= 0.40) that swings them between 51.7 and 121.0 AUs apart in an orbit that lasts about 722 years

Known planets
g A: Possibly there is another small star or big planet orbiting star
g B: Dust has been found around this star

Habitable zone
Both stars could potentially support habitable zones as they are far enough from one another (their orbit is twice the distance of Pluto to the Sun)
g A: Accounting for infrared heating, the distance from 61 Cygni A where an Earth-type planet would be "comfortable" with liquid water is centered around only 0.39 AU - around Mercury's orbital distance in the Solar System. At that distance from the star, such a planet would have an orbital period of about 106 days-- less than a third of an Earth year.
g B: Accounting for infrared heating, the distance from 61 Cygni B where an Earth-type planet would be "comfortable" with liquid water is centered around only 0.34 AU - about half of Mercury's orbital distance in the Solar System. At that distance from the star, such a planet would have an orbital period of about 91 days - just over three months on Earth.

Orbital map
g Map

View from star
g NA

Nearby stars
(Star systems with 10 light years)
g Kruger 60 AB: 5.2 ly
g V1581 Cygni AB, 5.2 ly
g Ross 248, 5.6 ly
g Struve 2398 AB, 6.1 ly
g EV Lacertae 2, 6.9 ly
g Groombridge 34 Aab,B, 7.1 ly
g Barnard's Star, 9.3 ly
g BD+68 946 AB 9.7 ly
g Altair, 9.8 ly

Map locating star system
g Map

Location in Earth sky
g Lies in the constellation Cygnus, southeast of Sadr (Gamma Cygni); can just be glimpsed with the naked eye with optimal viewing in August/September

Other names
g A: HR 8085
g A: Bessel's Star
g A: Flying Star
g A: 61 Cyg
g A: V1083 Cygni
g A: NSV 13543
g A: Gl 820 A
g A: Hip 104214
g A: HD 201091
g A: BD+38 4343
g A: SAO 70919
g A: FK5 773
g A: LHS 62
g A: Struve 2758 A
g A: ADS 14636 A
g B: Gl 820 B
g B: HR 8086
g B: HD 201092
g B: WDS 21069+3845B
g B: NSV 13546
g B: Hip 104217
g B: BD+38 4344
g B: LHS 63
g B: Struve 2758 B
g B: ADS 14636 B

Sci-fi mentions
g Tellar in “Star Trek.” On several occasions, the viewscreen readouts aboard the USS Enterprise-D showed the location of the A and B 61 Cygni stars, in the form of a star chart from the Enterprise library computer; the Enterprise computer's star chart was a drawing by Rick Sternbach that had originally been published, years earlier, on page 77 of the reference titled Spaceflight Chronology - this chart showed Earth's commercial and exploration routes in the 2050s and 2060s, but no text attesting to this fact was included in the portion used onscreen, just the labeled names of the stars.
g “The Foundation Series,” novels by Isaac Asimov. 61 Cygni is one of the planets where the human race might have originated, mentioned by the Imperial politician Lord Dorwin.
g “Time and Again” (1951), novel by Clifford D. Simak. 61 Cygni is a mysterious system whose planets are impossible to approach.
g “Mission of Gravity,” novel, and other stories (1953-) by Hal Clement. 61 Cygni A is the sun around which the planet Mesklin revolves.
g “Danny Dunn and the Voice from Space” (1967), children's book. A modulated radio signal coming from 61 Cygni turns out to be a pictogram from aliens.
g “Revelation Space” stories (2000-) by Alastair Reynolds. 61 Cygni (or 'Swan') is the sun of the planet Sky's Edge.
g Blake's 7, television program. The region around 61 Cygni is the only area near Earth that has not been surveyed, since it is home to an alien race which is hostile to mankind, going so far as to release a virus on a Federation base via a piece of space debris.
g Earth & Beyond, online role-playing game. 61 Cygni is a system in the outskirts of the universe.
g Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer games. 61 Cygni has a terraformed planet (named Scott) that is notorious for its harsh, icy environment. Surprisingly, it has a successful tourism industry to go along with it's renowned fishing industry. It's pool of tourists is derived from the populations of nearby mining systems, who would never otherwise experience a true outdoor environment where it not for the planet Scott being nearby. 61 Cygni is also a member of the Federation.
g Among the first 26 interstellar expeditions is one to this star system in Frederick Pohl's short story "Father of the Stars"
g Home of the Cygnostik in Michael Bishop's "A Little Knowledge". The planet is suspected to be dim and in continuous twilight with temperatures rarely above freezing.
g In Chris Berman novel “Ace of Aces,” non-sntient alien species called "gathat" live there


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