Tau(1) Hydrae

light-years
Proper names: Tau(1) Hydrae, 31 Hydrae, Tau Hydrae
Catalog numbers:
     Gliese (Gl) 348, Henry Draper (HD) 81997, Hipparcos Input Catalog (HIC) 46509, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) 136895, Hoffleit Bright Star (HR) 3759
Arity: binary
Right Ascension and Declination: 9h29m8.91s, -2°46'8.4" (epoch 2000.0)
Distance from Sol: 55.8 light-years (17.1 parsecs)
Standard error in distance: 6.1015%
Source for distance: Hipparcos
Celestial (X,Y,Z) coordinates in ly: -44.1, 34.1, -2.69
Galactic (X,Y,Z) coordinates in ly: -25.5, -39.1, 30.6
Proper motion: 0.134 arcsec/yr (104.2° from north)
Radial Velocity: 10.8 km/sec
Source for proper motion and radial velocity: Gliese
Galactic (U,V,W) velocity components in km/s: 4.12, -8.88, 11.8

What do all these fields mean?

Data for A and B's orbit around one other:
Combined absolute visual magnitude: +3.33
Combined visual luminosity: 4.06 x Sol
Observed Separation: 1129 A.U.s
As seen from A:
     B would appear as magnitude -10.29
As seen from B:
     A would appear as magnitude -12.88


Component A:
NOTE: This star is actually a close-orbiting binary pair. The data below are for both sub-components of the pair combined.
Catalog numbers:
     Bonner Durchmusterung (BD) -2°2901
Spectral class: F6
Luminosity Class: V
Apparent visual magnitude: +4.59
Absolute visual magnitude: +3.43
Visual luminosity: 3.72 x Sol
Color indices: B-V= +0.45, U-B= +0.00, R-I= +0.26
Diameter: 1.49 x Sol
Source for diameter: Apparent Diameters and Absolute Radii of Stars (Fracassini+ 1988)
Comfort Zone (visual): 1.93 A.U.s
Angular size of star in sky in CZ: 0.411713 degrees


Component B:
Catalog numbers:
     Bonner Durchmusterung (BD) -2°2902
Right Ascension and Declination: 9h26m37s, -2°31'54" (epoch 1950.0)
Celestial (X,Y,Z) coordinates in ly: -43.7, 34.6, -2.46
Galactic (X,Y,Z) coordinates in ly: -26.0, -38.9, 30.3
Proper motion: 0.146 arcsec/yr (103.1° from north)
Radial Velocity: 11.5 km/sec
Source for proper motion and radial velocity: Gliese
Galactic (U,V,W) velocity components in km/s: 4.35, -9.40, 12.8
Spectral class: K0
Luminosity Class: V
Apparent visual magnitude: +7.18
Absolute visual magnitude: +6.02
Visual luminosity: 0.34 x Sol
Color indices: B-V= +0.87, U-B= +0.57
Mass: 0.66 x Sol
Comfort Zone (visual): 0.58 A.U.s
Orbital period in CZ: 201.044 days
Tidal index in CZ: 3.30065

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