| Observation data Epoch J2000 Equinox J2000 | |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Circinus |
| Right ascension | 15h 16m 41.001s[1] |
| Declination | −58° 22′ 25.96″[1] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 13.4 |
| Characteristics | |
| Evolutionary stage | Blue supergiant |
| Spectral type | B1Ia[2] |
| Astrometry | |
| Parallax (π) | 0.1714 ± 0.0192 mas[1] |
| Distance | 18,200 ly (5,600[2] pc) |
| Absolute magnitude (MV) | −6.8[2] |
| Details | |
| Radius | 38.5[2] R☉ |
| Luminosity | 263,000[2] L☉ |
| Temperature | 21,100[2] K |
| Rotational velocity (v sin i) | 90[2] km/s |
| Age | 5.5[2] Myr |
| Other designations | |
[GKF2010] MN18, IRAS 15127-5811, 2MASS J15164101-5822260 | |
| Database references | |
| SIMBAD | data |
MN18 is a blue supergiant in the constellation of Circinus, about 5.6 kiloparsecs away, or about 18,300 light years away, likely in the open cluster Lynga 3. MN18 is surrounded by a bipolar nebula, quite uncommon around blue supergiants, and some other examples of blue supergiants with bipolar nebulae include HD 168625, Sher 25 and SBW 1.[2]