Iota Leonis, Latinized from ι Leonis, is a quadruple star system in the constellation Leo. The system is fairly close to the Sun, at only 79 light-years (24.2 parsecs) away, based on its parallax. The system has a combined apparent magnitude of 4.00 making it faintly visible to the naked eye. It is moving closer to the Sun with a radial velocity of −10 km/s.
The primary star, Iota Leonis A, has a spectral type of F3 IV, matching that of an F-type subgiant star. The second component in the star system is designated Iota Leonis B. It orbits the primary every 190 years, and with its perihelion passage in 1948, the separation between the two is steadily growing. The pair is also listed as a single-lined spectroscopic binary. It is a F-type main-sequence star with a mass 18.3% greater than that of the Sun.
The outer companion is designated StKM 2-732 and is also called Iota Leonis C. It has an angular separation from the inner pair by 331" along a position angle of 346°, and is itself a close binary. The combined spectrum is K6V.
Name
In Chinese, (), meaning Right Wall of Supreme Palace Enclosure, refers to an asterism consisting of ι Leonis, β Virginis, σ Leonis, θ Leonis and δ Leonis. 中國星座神話, written by 陳久金. Published by 台灣書房出版有限公司, 2005, . Consequently, the Chinese name for ι Leonis itself is (, ), 香港太空館 - 研究資源 - 亮星中英對照表 , Hong Kong Space Museum. Accessed on line November 23, 2010. representing (), meaning The Second Western General. English-Chinese Glossary of Chinese Star Regions, Asterisms and Star Name , Hong Kong Space Museum. Accessed on line November 23, 2010. 西次將 (Xīcìjiāng), spelled Tsze Tseang by R.H. Allen, means "the Second General".
See also List of stars in Leo Chinese star names
References Note: see VizieR catalogue I/311.
Iota Leonis' database entry at VizieR.
Catalogue can be accessed here.