Distance, Luminosity and evolutionary status of epsilon Aurigae (F0Iaep) from Gaia DR2 parallax

Abstract

From Gaia DR2 parallax of ǫ Aurigae the distance, Mv, Mbol, and log(L∗/L⊙sun) are found to be 445 parsecs, −6.5 mag, −6.5 mag, and 4.5 respectively. These results clearly indicate that ǫ Aurigae (F0Iae) is post-AGB star. The progenitor of ǫ Aurigae is most likely an intermediate mass star of 4 to 5 solar masses or the progenitor may be a star which is lower limit of a super-AGB star.