astronomy

TZ Arietis

TZ Arietis 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 TZ Arietis rather than just read about it. In short: TZ Arietis (also known as Gliese 83.1, GJ 9066, or L 1159-16) is a red dwarf in the northern constellation of Aries. With a normal apparent visual magnitude of 12.3, it is too faint to be seen by the naked eye, although it lies relatively close at a distance of 14.6 light-years (4.47 parsecs).

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

TZ Arietis (also known as Gliese 83.1, GJ 9066, or L 1159-16) is a red dwarf in the northern constellation of Aries. With a normal apparent visual magnitude of 12.3, it is too faint to be seen by the naked eye, although it lies relatively close at a distance of 14.6 light-years (4.47 parsecs). It is a flare star, which means it can suddenly increase in brightness for short periods of time.

Variability

William E. Kunkel announced that TZ Arietis is a variable star in 1968. It is a flare star, showing brief increases in brightness due to eruptions from its surface. In the ultraviolet, flares of over a magnitude have been observed. In addition it shows longterm variations in brightness which may be due to starspots and rotation, possibly classifying it as a BY Draconis variable. It was given the variable star designation TZ Arietis in 1970.

Planetary system In a preprint submitted to arXiv in June 2019, three candidate planets were reported in orbit around this star (GJ 83.1) with orbital periods of 2, 240, and 770 days. A paper published in August 2020 reported a confirmation of the 240-day and 770-day planets, designating them "b" and "c", respectively. In March 2022, astronomers using the Calar Alto Observatory in Spain, as part of the CARMENES survey project, reported an independent confirmation of the 770-day planet, which they designated "b". However, they found no evidence for the 240-day planet, and confidently defined the 2-day candidate as nothing more than a spurious chromatic effect of the star, linked to its rotation. The NASA Exoplanet Archive still refers to the confirmed, 770-day planet as "c".

References

Notes

Further reading Harrington, R. S.; Dahn, C. C. (April 1980). "Summary of U.S. Naval Observatory parallaxes". Astronomical Journal. 85: 454–465. Bibcode:1980AJ.....85..454H. doi:10.1086/112696. Riaz, Basmah; Gizis, John E.; Harvin, James (2006). "Identification of New M Dwarfs in the Solar Neighborhood". The Astronomical Journal. 132 (2): 866–872. arXiv:astro-ph/0606617. Bibcode:2006AJ....132..866R. doi:10.1086/505632. S2CID 6282011. Table 1. Dittmann, Jason A.; Irwin, Jonathan M.; Charbonneau, David; Berta-Thompson, Zachory K. (2014). "Trigonometric Parallaxes for 1507 Nearby Mid-to-late M Dwarfs". The Astrophysical Journal. 784 (2): 156. arXiv:1312.3241. Bibcode:2014ApJ...784..156D. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/784/2/156. S2CID 18789867. Table with parallaxes.

External links ARICNS entry Archived 2007-06-10 at the Wayback Machine luyten-1159-16 Image luyten-1159-16 GJ 83.1 Image TZ Arietis

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with TZ Arietis

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what TZ Arietis 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 TZ Arietis 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 TZ Arietis 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 TZ Arietis

In research: TZ Arietis 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 TZ Arietis 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: TZ Arietis is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Aries (constellation), Flare stars, Gliese and GJ objects, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for TZ Arietis 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 TZ Arietis in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is TZ Arietis in simple terms?

Why does TZ Arietis 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 TZ Arietis?

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 TZ Arietis.