Kappa Fornacis, a yellow main-sequence star in Fornax
Kappa Fornacis is a yellow main-sequence star in the constellation Fornax. At 76 light years away, it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 5.20.
Kappa Fornacis (HIP 11072)
Kappa Fornacis is a yellow main-sequence star in the constellation Fornax. At 76 light years away, it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 5.20. It is moving through the Galaxy at a speed of 25.6 km/s relative to the Sun.
Sky position: RA 2h 22.5m, Dec -23° 49.0'
Common designations: Kappa Fornacis, HR 695, HD 14802, GJ 97, HIP 11072, Gaia DR3 5119953517683718400
Kappa Fornacis has the spectral type G0V. G-type stars are yellow stars of about 5,300 to 6,000 K, the same class as the Sun. Their spectra show strong lines of ionized calcium and many metals. Its luminosity class V means it is a main-sequence (dwarf) star, still fusing hydrogen into helium in its core like the Sun.
How to find Kappa Fornacis in the sky
Kappa Fornacis lies in Fornax. With a declination of -23° 49.0', it is visible from the entire Southern Hemisphere and from the Northern Hemisphere up to about latitude 66° N. It is bright enough to see with the naked eye under dark skies. It is highest in the sky at local midnight around November, which makes the weeks around that month the best time to observe it.
Tabulated data for Kappa Fornacis
Astrometry and spectroscopy
| Right Ascension (J2000) | 35.63579362° (2h 22.5m) |
| Declination (J2000) | -23.81679996° (-23° 49.0') |
| Galactic Longitude | 208.85632897° |
| Galactic Latitude | -69.20260113° |
| Proper motion RA | 162.32 mas/yr |
| Proper motion Dec | 5.04 mas/yr |
| Parallax | 42.91 ± 0.42 mas |
| Spectral Type | G0V |
| Radial Velocity | 18.33 km/s |
Photometry
| Band | Magnitude | Abs. Mag. |
|---|---|---|
| B | 5.80 | 3.96 |
| V | 5.20 | 3.36 |
| I | 4.51 | 2.67 |
| J | 4.13 | 2.30 |
| H | 3.71 | 1.87 |
| K | 3.74 | 1.90 |
Colour index B-V: +0.60
Derivations
- Heliocentric distance: 23.30 pc (76 light years) (1.0% margin of error)
- Absolute visual magnitude: 3.36
- Transverse velocity: 17.9 km/s
- Space velocity relative to the Sun: 25.6 km/s
- Galactic position (X, Y, Z): -7.2 pc, -4.0 pc, -21.8 pc
- Galactic velocity (U, V, W): -18.2 km/s, -14.4 km/s, -10.9 km/s
Data: Extended Hipparcos Compilation (XHIP) and SIMBAD.