Xi Eridani, a white main-sequence star in Eridanus
Xi Eridani is a white main-sequence star in the constellation Eridanus. At 210 light years away, it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 5.17.
Xi Eridani (HIP 20507)
Xi Eridani is a white main-sequence star in the constellation Eridanus. At 210 light years away, it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 5.17. It is moving through the Galaxy at a speed of 25.5 km/s relative to the Sun.
Sky position: RA 4h 23.7m, Dec -3° 44.7'
Common designations: Xi Eridani, 42 Eridani, HR 1383, HD 27861, HIP 20507, Gaia DR3 3203176408811870592
Xi Eridani has the spectral type A1V. A-type stars are white stars with surface temperatures of roughly 7,500 to 10,000 K. Their spectra are dominated by strong hydrogen lines, and many of them rotate rapidly. 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 Xi Eridani in the sky
Xi Eridani lies in Eridanus. With a declination of -3° 44.7', it is visible from the entire Southern Hemisphere and from the Northern Hemisphere up to about latitude 86° N. It is bright enough to see with the naked eye under dark skies. It is highest in the sky at local midnight around December, which makes the weeks around that month the best time to observe it.
Tabulated data for Xi Eridani
Astrometry and spectroscopy
| Right Ascension (J2000) | 65.92021681° (4h 23.7m) |
| Declination (J2000) | -3.74546807° (-3° 44.7') |
| Galactic Longitude | 197.82463636° |
| Galactic Latitude | -34.29810865° |
| Proper motion RA | -48.72 mas/yr |
| Proper motion Dec | -55.76 mas/yr |
| Parallax | 15.52 ± 0.09 mas |
| Spectral Type | A1V |
| Radial Velocity | -11.67 km/s |
Photometry
| Band | Magnitude | Abs. Mag. |
|---|---|---|
| B | 5.24 | 1.19 |
| V | 5.17 | 1.12 |
| J | 5.08 | 1.04 |
| H | 5.06 | 1.01 |
| K | 4.93 | 0.88 |
Colour index B-V: +0.07
Derivations
- Heliocentric distance: 64.43 pc (210 light years) (0.6% margin of error)
- Absolute visual magnitude: 1.12
- Transverse velocity: 22.6 km/s
- Space velocity relative to the Sun: 25.5 km/s
- Galactic position (X, Y, Z): -50.7 pc, -16.3 pc, -36.3 pc
- Galactic velocity (U, V, W): 22.9 km/s, -0.1 km/s, -11.2 km/s
Data: Extended Hipparcos Compilation (XHIP) and SIMBAD.