astronomy

HD 156279

HD 156279 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 156279 rather than just read about it. In short: HD 156279 is a star with a pair of orbiting exoplanets located in the northern constellation of Draco. It has various alternate designations, including HIP 84171 and BD+63 1335.

Key takeaways

HD 156279 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 156279 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of HD 156279 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

HD 156279 is a star with a pair of orbiting exoplanets located in the northern constellation of Draco. It has various alternate designations, including HIP 84171 and BD+63 1335. Parallax measurements yield a distance of 118 light years from the Sun, but it is drifting closer with a radial velocity of −20 km/s. Despite an absolute magnitude of 5.25, at that distance the star is too faint to be visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 8.17. It is presumed to be a single star, as in 2019 all imaging surveys have failed to find any stellar companions. The spectrum of HD 156279 has a stellar classification of G6 or K0, depending on the study. Hence it presents as an ordinary main sequence star of the late G-type or early K-type. The star has 93% of the mass of the Sun and 94% of the Sun's radius. HD 156279 is roughly seven billion years old and is spinning with a projected rotational velocity of 2.5 km/s. Based on the abundance of iron, this star is slightly enriched in heavy elements, having 140% of the solar abundance. It is radiating 70% of the luminosity of the Sun from its photosphere at an effective temperature of 5,449 K.

Planetary system Orbiting HD 156279 are two superjovian planets, the inner HD 156279 b (discovered in 2011) and outer HD 156279 c (discovered in 2016). In 2022, the inclination and true mass of HD 156279 c were measured for the first time, using the astrometry technique.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with HD 156279

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what HD 156279 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 156279 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 156279 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 156279

In research: HD 156279 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 156279 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 156279 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Draco (constellation), Durchmusterung objects, G-type main-sequence stars, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for HD 156279 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 156279 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what HD 156279 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 156279 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is HD 156279 in simple terms?

HD 156279 is a star with a pair of orbiting exoplanets located in the northern constellation of Draco. It has various alternate designations, including HIP 84171 and BD+63 1335.

Why does HD 156279 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 156279?

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 156279.