Alpha Fornacis

light-years
Proper names: Alpha Fornacis
Catalog numbers:
     Gliese (Gl) 127, Henry Draper (HD) 20010, Cordoba Durchmusterung (CD) -29°1177, Luyten Half-Second (LHS) 1515, Hipparcos Input Catalog (HIC) 14879, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) 168373, Aitken Double Star (ADS) 2402, Hoffleit Bright Star (HR) 963, J. Herschel (HJ) 3555
Arity: binary
Right Ascension and Declination: 3h12m4.287s, -28°59'13.36" (epoch 2000.0)
Distance from Sol: 46.03 light-years (14.11 parsecs)
Standard error in distance: 0.9367%
Source for distance: Hipparcos
Celestial (X,Y,Z) coordinates in ly: 26.93, 29.93, -22.31
Galactic (X,Y,Z) coordinates in ly: -17.14, -16.82, -39.27
Proper motion: 0.727 arcsec/yr (27.6° from north)
Radial Velocity: -20 km/sec
Source for proper motion and radial velocity: Gliese
Galactic (U,V,W) velocity components in km/s: -37.30, 20.23, 31.06

What do all these fields mean?

Data for A and B's orbit around one other:
Combined absolute visual magnitude: +3.12
Combined visual luminosity: 4.925 x Sol
Period: 314 years
Semimajor Axis: 61.63 A.U.s
Eccentricity: 0.76
Periastron distance: 14.79 A.U.s
Apastron distance: 108.5 A.U.s
Year in which periastron occurs: 1947
Source for orbit data: W.D. Heintz
As seen from A:
     At periastron, B would appear as magnitude -19.77
     At apastron, B would appear as magnitude -15.44
As seen from B:
     At periastron, A would appear as magnitude -22.52
     At apastron, A would appear as magnitude -18.19


Component A:
Spectral class: F7
Luminosity Class: IV
Apparent visual magnitude: +3.95
Absolute visual magnitude: +3.20
Visual luminosity: 4.563 x Sol
Mass: 1.5 x Sol
Diameter: 1.881 x Sol
Source for diameter: Apparent Diameters and Absolute Radii of Stars (Fracassini+ 1988)
Comfort Zone (visual): 2.136 A.U.s
Orbital period in CZ: 2.54904 years
Tidal index in CZ: 0.153902
Angular size of star in sky in CZ: 0.469384 degrees


Component B:
Spectral class: G7
Luminosity Class: V
Apparent visual magnitude: +6.70
Absolute visual magnitude: +5.95
Visual luminosity: 0.362 x Sol
Mass: 0.7 x Sol
Diameter: 0.86 x Sol
Source for diameter: Apparent Diameters and Absolute Radii of Stars (Fracassini+ 1988)
Comfort Zone (visual): 0.602 A.U.s
Orbital period in CZ: 203.903 days
Tidal index in CZ: 3.20873
Angular size of star in sky in CZ: 0.761601 degrees

light-years
but not more than light-years away
Data for this star system were most recently updated on 4-April-2001.