Beta Volantis

Beta Volantis, Latinized from β Volantis, is the brightest star of the southern constellation of Volans. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 3.75,^[2] which is sufficiently bright to allow it to be viewed with the naked eye. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 30.33 mas as seen from Earth, its distance can be estimated as 107.5 light years from the Sun. The star is moving away from the Sun with a radial velocity of +27 km/s.^[5]

Beta Volantis

Location of β Volantis.
Observation data Epoch J2000      Equinox J2000
Constellation	Volans
Right ascension	08h 25m 44.19472s[1]
Declination	−66° 08′ 12.8050″[1]
Apparent magnitude (V)	3.75[2]
Characteristics
Evolutionary stage	horizontal branch[3]
Spectral type	K2 III[4]
B−V color index	+1.13[2]
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)	+27.4±0.7[5] km/s
Proper motion (μ)	RA: −35.74±0.10[1] mas/yr Dec.: −152.22±0.10[1] mas/yr
Parallax (π)	30.33 ± 0.10 mas[1]
Distance	107.5 ± 0.4 ly (33.0 ± 0.1 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)	+1.18[6]
Details
Mass	1.62±0.20[7] M☉
Luminosity	41±3[7] L☉
Temperature	4,546[7] K
Metallicity [Fe/H]	−0.01[8] dex
Other designations
β Vol, CD−65°648, GJ 3499, HD 71878, HIP 41312, HR 3347, SAO 250228[9]
Database references
SIMBAD	data

This is a single,^[10] orange-hued star with a stellar classification of K2 III,^[4] indicating it is an evolved K-type giant star. It is a red clump star,^[3] which means it is on the horizontal branch and is generating energy through helium fusion at its core. The stellar mass has been estimated via astroseismology, giving a value of 1.6 times the mass of the Sun.^[7] It is radiating about 41 times the Sun's luminosity from its enlarged photosphere at an effective temperature of 4,546 K.^[7]

References

1. van Leeuwen, F. (November 2007), "Validation of the new Hipparcos reduction", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 474 (2): 653–664, arXiv:0708.1752, Bibcode:2007A&A...474..653V, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20078357, S2CID 18759600.
2. Cousins, A. W. J. (1977), "Cape UBV magnitudes and colours of South circumpolar stars", South African Astronomical Observatory Circulars, 1: 51, Bibcode:1977SAAOC...1...51C.
3. Paczynski, B.; et al. (September 1999), "The Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment. UBVI Photometry of Stars in Baade's Window", Acta Astronomica, 49: 319–339, arXiv:astro-ph/9908043, Bibcode:1999AcA....49..319P.
4. Gray, R. O.; et al. (2003), "Contributions to the Nearby Stars (NStars) Project: Spectroscopy of Stars Earlier than M0 within 40 Parsecs: The Northern Sample. I", The Astronomical Journal, 126 (4): 2048, arXiv:astro-ph/0308182, Bibcode:2003AJ....126.2048G, doi:10.1086/378365, S2CID 119417105.
5. Gontcharov, G. A. (November 2006), "Pulkovo Compilation of Radial Velocities for 35495 Hipparcos stars in a common system", Astronomy Letters, 32 (11): 759–771, arXiv:1606.08053, Bibcode:2006AstL...32..759G, doi:10.1134/S1063773706110065, S2CID 119231169.
6. 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.
7. Stello, D.; et al. (2008), "Oscillating K Giants with the WIRE Satellite: Determination of Their Asteroseismic Masses", The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 674 (1): L53–L56, arXiv:0801.2155, Bibcode:2008ApJ...674L..53S, doi:10.1086/528936, S2CID 15094067.
8. Heiter, U.; Jofré, P.; Gustafsson, B.; Korn, A. J.; Soubiran, C.; Thévenin, F. (2015), "Gaia FGK benchmark stars: Effective temperatures and surface gravities", Astronomy & Astrophysics, 582: A49, arXiv:1506.06095, Bibcode:2015A&A...582A..49H, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201526319, S2CID 53391939.
9. "bet Vol". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2017-09-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
10. Eggleton, P. P.; Tokovinin, A. A. (September 2008), "A catalogue of multiplicity among bright stellar systems", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 389 (2): 869–879, arXiv:0806.2878, Bibcode:2008MNRAS.389..869E, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.13596.x, S2CID 14878976.