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DG Canum Venaticorum

DG Canum Venaticorum is a variable binary star system^[3] in the northern constellationofCanes Venatici. As of 2009, the pair have an angular separation of 0.20″ along a position angle of 285°, which corresponds to a physical separation of around 3.6 AU.^[8] With an apparent visual magnitude of 12.02, the pair are much too faint to be seen with the naked eye.^[3] Parallax measurements place the system at a distance of roughly 59 light years from the Earth.^[3]

The stellar classification of the primary component is M4.0Ve, indicating it is a red dwarf with emission lines present. It is considered a very young system with an estimated age of just 30^[8] million years and a higher metallicity than the Sun.^[7] One of the components is rotating rapidly, with a projected rotational velocity of 50 km/s.^[3] At least one of the members of this system is a type of variable known as a flare star, which means it undergoes brief increases in brightness at random intervals. On April 23, 2014, a gamma-ray superflare event was observed by the Swift satellite coming from the position of this system. It may have been perhaps the most luminous such events ever observed coming from a red dwarf star. A secondary radio flare was observed a day later.^[8]

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External links[edit]

• Reddy, Francis (September 29, 2014), NASA's Swift Mission Observes Mega Flares from a Mini Star, NASA, retrieved 2016-03-12.