Alpha Fornacis
| Observation data Epoch J2000 Equinox J2000 |
|
|---|---|
| Constellation | Fornax |
| Right ascension | 3h 12m 04.5277s[1] |
| Declination | –28° 59′ 15.425″[1] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 3.85[2] |
| Characteristics | |
| Spectral type | F8IV[3] |
| U−B color index | +0.082[4] |
| B−V color index | +0.581[4] |
| Astrometry | |
| Radial velocity (Rv) | –20.5[5] km/s |
| Proper motion (μ) | RA: 371.49[1] mas/yr Dec.: 612.28[1] mas/yr |
| Parallax (π) | 70.86 ± 0.67[1] mas |
| Distance | 46.0 ± 0.4 ly (14.1 ± 0.1 pc) |
| Details | |
| Mass | 1.33 ± 0.01[6] M☉ |
| Radius | 2.04 ± 0.06[7] R☉ |
| Luminosity | 4.87 ± 0.16[7] L☉ |
| Surface gravity (log g) | 4.27[6] cgs |
| Temperature | 6,240[6] K |
| Metallicity [Fe/H] | –0.20[6] dex |
| Rotational velocity (v sin i) | 3.9[7] km/s |
| Age | 2.9[8] Gyr |
| Other designations | |
| Database references | |
| SIMBAD | data |
Alpha Fornacis (α Fornacis, α For) is the brightest star in the constellation Fornax. It is the only star brighter than magnitude 4.0 in the constellation. It has the proper names Dalim (in Piazzi's Palermo Catalogue)[9][10][11] and Fornacis (in Burritt's Atlas).[12] This star was formally identical with 12 Eridani.
This star has been identified as a blue straggler, which may indicate it underwent a mass transfer episode in the past.[13] The stellar classification of Alpha Fornacis is F8IV, where the luminosity class IV indicates this is a subgiant star that has just evolved off the main sequence.[14] It has 33% more mass than the Sun and is an estimated 2.9 billion years old.[6][8] Alpha Fornacis is a binary star[15] and has a high proper motion.[2] This system displays an excess of infrared emission, which may indicate the presence of circumstellar material such as a debris disk.[16]
The space velocity components of this star are (U, V, W) = (–35, +20, +30) km/s.[17] Approximately 350,000 years ago, Alpha Fornacis experienced a close encounter with the A-type main sequence star Nu Horologii. The two came within an estimated 0.265 ly (0.081 pc) of each other, and both stars have debris disks.[18]
References
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- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. See VizierR catalogue V/130.
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- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. plate III.
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