Nu Fornacis
Bluish variable star in the constellation Fornax
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Nu Fornacis, Latinized from ν Fornacis, is a single,[12] variable star in the southern constellation of Fornax. It is blue-white in hue and faintly visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude that fluctuates around 4.7. This body is located approximately 370 light years distant from the Sun based on parallax,[1] and is drifting further away with a radial velocity of +18.5 km/s.[6] It is a candidate member of the Pisces-Eridanus stellar stream, which suggests an age of 120 million years or less.[13]
  | |
| Observation data Epoch J2000 Equinox ICRS | |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Fornax |
| Right ascension | 02h 04m 29.43861s[1] |
| Declination | −29° 17′ 48.5477″[1] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 4.68 to 4.73[2] |
| Characteristics | |
| Spectral type | B9.5IIIspSi[3] |
| U−B color index | −0.51[4] |
| B−V color index | −0.17[4] |
| Variable type | α2 CVn[5] |
| Astrometry | |
| Radial velocity (Rv) | +18.50[6] km/s |
| Proper motion (μ) | RA: +12.79[7] mas/yr Dec.: +8.48[7] mas/yr |
| Parallax (π) | 8.79±0.26 mas[1] |
| Distance | 370 ± 10 ly (114 ± 3 pc) |
| Absolute magnitude (MV) | −0.60[8] |
| Details | |
| Mass | 3.65±0.18[9] M☉ |
| Radius | 3.44[10] R☉ |
| Luminosity | 245[9] L☉ |
| Temperature | 13,400[11] K |
| Rotation | 1.89[11] d |
| Rotational velocity (v sin i) | 50±5[11] km/s |
| Other designations | |
| ν For, CD−29°706, FK5 1055, GC 2506, HD 12767, HIP 9677, HR 612, SAO 167532[7] | |
| Database references | |
| SIMBAD | data |
This object is an Ap star[15] with a stellar classification of B9.5IIIspSi[3] matching a late B-type giant star. The 'Si' suffix indicates an abundance anomaly of silicon. It is an Alpha2 Canum Venaticorum variable that ranges from magnitude 4.68 down to 4.73 with a period of 1.89 days – the same as its rotational period.[5][11] It is 3.65 times as massive and 245 times as luminous as the Sun,[9] with 3.44 times the Sun's diameter.[10]