|
19 Piscium is a carbon star (or C-type star), a star in which carbon predominates in its atmosphere, giving it a deep red colour. Estimates of its size suggest that the star is immense, with a diameter of more than two Astronomical Units (if it lay at the centre of the Solar System, it would consume Mercury, Venus and Earth).
It is also given the variable designation TX Piscium, and is a pulsating variable whose luminosity changes slightly over periods that are irregular (or at least difficult to identify). This is due to the complex internal processes within the star, in which both hydrogen and helium are undergoing fusion in different regions around a dead stellar core. Interaction between these different layers within the star can cause violent reactions, including mass being physically ejected into space.
|
|
Show on Sky Map