Mu Phoenicis

Mu Phoenicis
Location of μ Phoenicis (circled)
Observation data
Epoch J2000      Equinox J2000
Constellation Phoenix
Right ascension 00h 41m 19.55229s
Declination −46° 05 06.0184
Apparent magnitude (V) 4.59
Characteristics
Spectral type G8III
U−B color index +0.72
B−V color index +0.97
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)+17.41±0.16 km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: −28.20 mas/yr
Dec.: +1.80 mas/yr
Parallax (π)13.27±0.23 mas
Distance246 ± 4 ly
(75 ± 1 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)0.21
Details
Mass2.50 M
Radius13.15+2.59
−2.28
 R
Luminosity96.6±2.4 L
Temperature4,900 K
Rotational velocity (v sin i)1.4 km/s
Age1.4 Gyr
Other designations
μ Phe, CD−46°180, FK5 1015, GC 823, HD 3919, HIP 3245, HR 180, SAO 215194
Database references
SIMBADdata

μ Phoenicis, Latinized as Mu Phoenicis, is a suspected astrometric binary star system in the southern constellation of Phoenix. It is visible to the naked eye as a faint, yellow-hued star with an apparent visual magnitude of 4.59. This system is located approximately 246 light years distant from the Sun based on parallax, and is drifting further away with a radial velocity of +17.4 km/s.

The visible component is an aging G-type giant star with a stellar classification of G8III. Having exhausted the supply of hydrogen at its core, this star cooled and expanded off the main sequence. At present it has 13 times the girth of the Sun. It is 1.4 billion years old with 2.5 times the mass of the Sun. It is radiating 97 times the luminosity of the Sun from its swollen photosphere at an effective temperature of 4,900 K.