Kappa Pyxidis

κ Pyxidis
Location of κ Pyxidis (circled)
Observation data
Epoch J2000      Equinox J2000
Constellation Pyxis
Right ascension 09h 08m 02.88015s[1]
Declination –25° 51′ 30.7331″[1]
Apparent magnitude (V) 4.62[2]
Characteristics
Spectral type K4III[3]
U−B color index +1.87[4]
B−V color index +1.594±0.004[2]
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)−44.7±2.8[5] km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: +34.771[1] mas/yr
Dec.: +0.009[1] mas/yr
Parallax (π)6.3116 ± 0.2408 mas[1]
Distance520 ± 20 ly
(158 ± 6 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)−1.53[2]
Details
Radius66.70+0.34
−2.34[1] R☉
Luminosity927±40[1] L☉
Surface gravity (log g)1.44±0.22[6] cgs
Temperature3,931±31[6] K
Metallicity [Fe/H]−0.22±0.08[6] dex
Other designations
κ Pyx, CPD−25°4067, GC 12614, HD 78541, HIP 44824, HR 3628, SAO 177002, PPM 255695, CCDM J09080-2552AB, WDS J09080-2552AB[7]
Database references
SIMBADdata

Kappa Pyxidis, Latinized from κ Pyxidis, is a single,[8] orange-hued star in the southern constellation of Pyxis. It is visible to the naked eye as a faint point of light with an apparent visual magnitude of +4.62.[2] The star is located approximately 520 light years from the Sun based on parallax, but is drifting closer with a radial velocity of −45 km/s[5] and may come as close as 308 light-years in around 2.6 million years. It is moving through space at the rate of 53.7 km/s relative to the Sun and is following an orbit through the Milky Way galaxy with a large eccentricity of 0.68[2]

This is an aging giant with a stellar classification of K4III,[3] having exhausted the supply of hydrogen at its core then expanded and cooled. At present it has 67[1] times the radius of the Sun. It is a variable star of uncertain type, changing brightness with an amplitude of 0.0058 in visual magnitude over a period of 8.5 days.[9] The star radiates 927 times the luminosity of the Sun from its bloated photosphere at an effective temperature of 3,931 K.[6] A magnitude 10 visual companion is located at an angular separation of 2.1 arcseconds.[10]

  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 e Cite error: The named reference Anderson2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference perkins was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference clpl4_99 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference deBruijne2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference Prugniel2011 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 Eggleton2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference koen2002 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Privett2013 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).