astronomy

HD 114762

HD 114762 is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand HD 114762 rather than just read about it. In short: HD 114762 is a triple star system approximately 125 light-years (38.2 pc) away in the constellation Coma Berenices. It consists of a yellow-white F-type main-sequence star (HD 114762 A) and two red dwarf companions (HD 114762 Ab & HD 114762 B) approximately 0.36 & 130 AU distant.

Key takeaways

HD 114762 belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect HD 114762 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of HD 114762 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

HD 114762 is a triple star system approximately 125 light-years (38.2 pc) away in the constellation Coma Berenices. It consists of a yellow-white F-type main-sequence star (HD 114762 A) and two red dwarf companions (HD 114762 Ab & HD 114762 B) approximately 0.36 & 130 AU distant. Both are low-metal subdwarfs. Planets around such metal-poor stars are rare (three known cases are HD 22781, HD 111232, and HD 181720). A telescope or strong binoculars are needed to view the primary. HD 114762 had been used by scientists as a "standard star", one whose radial velocity is well established, but with the discovery of the spectroscopic companion HD 114762 Ab its usefulness as a standard has been called into question. The smaller red dwarf companion (HD 114762 B) is classified as an ultra-cool dwarf, with a spectral type around M9. With a visual magnitude of 15 and separated from the primary by only three arcseconds, it can only be seen with a powerful telescope. It is estimated to be around 10 billion years old, although the properties of such low-mass stars are very similar across a wide range of ages. It is calculated have only 8% of the mass of the Sun, a tenth of its radius, and with a temperature of about 2,645 K it produces less than a thousandth of its luminosity.

Spectroscopic companion

In 1989, a companion object, HD 114762 Ab, was found orbiting HD 114762 A by Latham, et al., using Doppler spectroscopy, but its existence was not confirmed until 1991 by Cochran, et al. Its orbital distance and revolution is similar to that of Mercury, though it has twice the eccentricity. It has a minimum mass of 10.69 MJ, and thus was originally thought to be a massive exoplanet; however, in 2019, its inclination was determined by Gaia astrometry, giving it a true mass of 141 MJ. This makes it a red dwarf star, or a massive brown dwarf. A 2020 study provided further confirmation of this, and revised the mass upwards to 147 MJ, and in 2022 this mass was revised upwards still further, to 0.293 M☉, based on Gaia DR3 data and a similar upwards revision to the mass of the primary star.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with HD 114762

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what HD 114762 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to HD 114762 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about HD 114762 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of HD 114762

In research: HD 114762 appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses HD 114762 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: HD 114762 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Am stars, Coma Berenices, Durchmusterung objects, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for HD 114762 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study HD 114762 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what HD 114762 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain HD 114762 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is HD 114762 in simple terms?

Why does HD 114762 matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study HD 114762?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on HD 114762.