81 Aquarii is a star in the constellation of Aquarius. It has an orange hue and is barely visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 6.23.[2] 81 Aquarii is its Flamsteed designation. The star is located at a distance of approximately 451 light years from the Sun based on parallax, and is drifting further away with a radial velocity of +1.6 km/s.[1] It is positioned near the ecliptic and thus is subject to lunar occultations.[5]

81 Aquarii
Observation data
Epoch J2000      Equinox J2000
Constellation Aquarius
Right ascension 23h 01m 23.64174s[1]
Declination −07° 03′ 40.1556″[1]
Apparent magnitude (V) 6.23[2]
Characteristics
Spectral type K5 III[3]
B−V color index 1.418±0.005[2]
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)+1.59±0.14[1] km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: −16.221±0.139[1] mas/yr
Dec.: −7.911±0.087[1] mas/yr
Parallax (π)7.2372 ± 0.0691 mas[1]
Distance451 ± 4 ly
(138 ± 1 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)0.34[2]
Details
Radius18.02+1.36
−2.45
[1] R
Luminosity102.3+1.3
−0.6
[1] L
Temperature4,324+329
−154
[1] K
Other designations
81 Aqr, BD−07° 5910, HD 217531, HIP 113674, HR 8757, SAO 146447[4]
Database references
SIMBADdata

This is an aging giant star with a stellar classification of K5 III,[3] indicating it has exhausted the supply of hydrogen at its core then cooled and expanded off the main sequence. The stellar spectrum displays strong lines of cyanogen.[6] It presently has 18 times the radius of the Sun and is radiating 102 times the Sun's luminosity from its enlarged photosphere at an effective temperature of 4,324 K.[1]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Brown, A. G. A.; et al. (Gaia collaboration) (August 2018). "Gaia Data Release 2: Summary of the contents and survey properties". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 616. A1. arXiv:1804.09365. Bibcode:2018A&A...616A...1G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201833051. Gaia DR2 record for this source at VizieR.
  2. ^ a b c d Anderson, E.; Francis, Ch. (2012), "XHIP: An extended hipparcos compilation", Astronomy Letters, 38 (5): 331, arXiv:1108.4971, Bibcode:2012AstL...38..331A, doi:10.1134/S1063773712050015, S2CID 119257644.
  3. ^ a b Houk, N.; Swift, C. (1999), "Michigan catalogue of two-dimensional spectral types for the HD Stars", Michigan Spectral Survey, 5, Bibcode:1999MSS...C05....0H.
  4. ^ "81 Aqr". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
  5. ^ Evans, D. S.; Edwards, D. A. (August 1981), "Photoelectric observations of lunar occultations. XII", Astronomical Journal, 86: 1277−1287, Bibcode:1981AJ.....86.1277E, doi:10.1086/113008.
  6. ^ Janes, K. A.; McClure, Robert D. (May 1971), "Strong-Cyanogen Stars: Photometry and Kinematics", Astrophysical Journal, 165: 561, Bibcode:1971ApJ...165..561J, doi:10.1086/150921.