Mira B
 The red giant star Mira (right), and its companion Mira B on the left. Taken on December 11, 1995 Credit: Hubble Space Telescope, using the Faint Object Camera |
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| Observation data Epoch J2000 Equinox J2000 |
|
|---|---|
| Constellation | Cetus |
| Right ascension | 02h 19m 20.80s |
| Declination | −02° 58′ 40.0″ |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 9.5 |
| Characteristics | |
| Spectral type | DA |
| Astrometry | |
| Distance | approx. 300ly (approx. 90 pc) |
| Other designations | |
| Database references | |
| SIMBAD | data |
Mira B, also known as VZ Ceti, is the companion star to the variable star Mira. Suspected as early as 1918, it was visually confirmed in 1923 by Robert Grant Aitken, and has been observed more or less continually since then, most recently by the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. Its orbit around Mira is poorly known; the most recent estimate listed in the Sixth Orbit Catalog of Visual Binary Stars gives an orbital period of roughly 500 years, with a periastron around the year 2285. Assuming the distance in the Hipparcos catalog and orbit are correct, Mira A and B are separated by an average of 100 AU.
Long-known to be erratically variable itself, its fluctuations seem to be related to its accretion of matter from Mira's stellar wind, which makes it a symbiotic star.
In January 2007, astronomers at the Keck Observatory announced the discovery of a protoplanetary disk around Mira B. Discovered via infrared data, the disk is apparently derived from captured material from Mira itself; Mira B accretes as much as one percent of the matter lost by its primary. Though planetary formation is perhaps unlikely as long as the disk is in active accretion, it may proceed apace once Mira A completes its red giant phase and becomes a white dwarf remnant.
This new data suggested that Mira B is actually a normal main-sequence star of spectral type K and roughly 0.7 solar masses, rather than a white dwarf as first envisioned. However, a 2010 analysis of rapid optical brightness variations has indicated that Mira B is in fact a white dwarf.
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