38 Lyncis

38 Lyncis is a multiple star system in the northern constellation of Lynx. It located about 125 light-years from the Sun, based on parallax.

When viewed through a moderate telescope, two components—a brighter blue-white star of magnitude 3.9 and a fainter star of magnitude 6.1 that has been described as lilac as well as blue-white—can be seen.[14] The pair have an angular separation of 2.6″ and an estimated period of 429 years.[12] The fainter component is itself a close binary which can only be resolved using speckle interferometry. The two were separated by 0.06″ in 1993[15] and 0.237″ in 2008,[16] and have an estimated orbital period of 2.1 years.[12] A further faint star, component E 100″ away, is a proper-motion companion.[17][18] Two other faint companions listed in multiple star catalogues as components C and D are unrelated background objects.[19][20]

38 Lyncis was given as a standard star for the spectral class of A3 V when the Morgan-Keenan classification system was first defined in 1943, apparently for the two components combined.[21]

The primary star, component A, is a class A main sequence star around twice the mass of the sun. An effective temperature of 8,862 K and a radius of 3.09 R_☉ mean that it is over thirty times more luminous than the sun. It has been listed as a λ Boötis star, although it is no longer considered to be a member.[6] The fainter of the pair, component B, has been given a spectral class of A4V, although it consists of two very close stars. Their properties are poorly-known, even the difference in their apparent magnitudes can only be estimated to be approximately 2. Based on this, their masses are estimated to be 1.3 M_☉ and 0.9 M_☉ respectively.[12] Component E is a 15th magnitude star with an approximate spectral type of M2, a red dwarf, and an estimated mass of 0.31 M_☉,[12] and a temperature of 3,816 K.[18]