Theta1 Orionis E (original) (raw)

θ1 Orionis E (Latinised as Theta1 Orionis E) is a double-lined spectroscopic binary located 4' north of θ1 Orionis A in the Trapezium Cluster. The two components are almost identical pre-main-sequence stars in a close circular orbit, and they show shallow eclipses that produce brightness variations of a few tenths of a magnitude. The variability was first reported in 1954 and confirmed as an eclipsing binary in 2012. It has not been assigned a variable star designation but is listed in the New Catalogue of Suspected Variable Stars.