Beta Mensae

β Mensae
Location of β Mensae (circled)
Observation data
Epoch J2000.0      Equinox J2000.0 (ICRS)
Constellation Mensa
Right ascension 05h 02m 42.99847s[1]
Declination −71° 18′ 51.4765″[1]
Apparent magnitude (V) 5.31[2]
Characteristics
Spectral type G8 III[3]
U−B color index +0.77[2]
B−V color index +1.00[2]
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)−11.40[4] km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: −4.368[1] mas/yr
Dec.: +10.815[1] mas/yr
Parallax (π)4.9368 ± 0.0810 mas[1]
Distance660 ± 10 ly
(203 ± 3 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)−1.62[5]
Details
Mass3.58[4] M☉
Radius25.85+0.69
−0.62[1] R☉
Luminosity345±7[1] L☉
Surface gravity (log g)2.54±0.11[6] cgs
Temperature5,088±44[6] K
Metallicity [Fe/H]+0.00±0.04[6] dex
Age270[4] Myr
Other designations
β Men, CPD−71° 309, FK5 2380, GC 6232, HD 33285, HIP 23467, HR 1677, SAO 256154, PPM 368632[7]
Database references
SIMBADdata

Beta Mensae, Latinized from β Mensae, is the third-brightest star in the constellation of Mensa. Despite this, it is only faintly visible to the naked eye, appearing as a dim, yellow-hued point of light with an apparent visual magnitude of 5.31.[2] The star is positioned near the southwest edge of the Large Magellanic Cloud, but it does not form part of this much more distant satellite galaxy. Based upon an annual parallax shift of just 4.11 mas as seen from the Earth,[8] the star is located at a distance of roughly 790 light years from the Sun. It is moving closer with a heliocentric radial velocity of −11 km/s.[4]

This is a solitary,[9] G-type giant star with a stellar classification of G8 III.[3] It is around 270 million years old with 3.6 times the mass of the Sun.[4] Having exhausted the supply of hydrogen at its core, it has expanded to 26[1] times the Sun's radius. Beta Mensae is radiating 513[4] times the Sun's luminosity from its photosphere at an effective temperature of about 5,088 K.[6]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Cite error: The named reference GaiaDR2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference Johnson1966 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference houk1979 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b c d e f Cite error: The named reference Luck2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Anderson2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference Alves2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference SIMBAD was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference vanLeeuwen2007 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Eggleton2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).