63 Eridani (HIP 23221)

63 Eridani is a yellow subgiant star in the constellation Eridanus. At 176 light years away, it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 5.39. It is moving through the Galaxy at a speed of 38.3 km/s relative to the Sun.

Sky position: RA 4h 59.8m, Dec -10° 15.8'

Common designations: 63 Eridani, HR 1608, HD 32008, HIP 23221, Gaia DR3 3182967488171853824

63 Eridani has the spectral type G4IV-V+DA. 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 IV marks it as a subgiant: it has exhausted hydrogen in its core and is beginning to expand toward the giant phase.

How to find 63 Eridani in the sky

63 Eridani lies in Eridanus. With a declination of -10° 15.8', it is visible from the entire Southern Hemisphere and from the Northern Hemisphere up to about latitude 80° 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 63 Eridani

Astrometry and spectroscopy

Right Ascension (J2000)	74.96022283° (4h 59.8m)
Declination (J2000)	-10.26331016° (-10° 15.8')
Galactic Longitude	209.55079688°
Galactic Latitude	-29.40777628°
Proper motion RA	23.82 mas/yr
Proper motion Dec	-134.34 mas/yr
Parallax	18.50 ± 0.48 mas
Spectral Type	G4IV-V+DA
Radial Velocity	-15.75 km/s

Photometry

Band	Magnitude	Abs. Mag.
B	6.18	2.52
V	5.39	1.73
J	4.12	0.45
H	3.55	-0.11
K	3.59	-0.07

Colour index B-V: +0.79

Derivations

Heliocentric distance: 54.05 pc (176 light years) (2.6% margin of error)
Absolute visual magnitude: 1.73
Transverse velocity: 35.0 km/s
Space velocity relative to the Sun: 38.3 km/s
Galactic position (X, Y, Z): -41.0 pc, -23.2 pc, -26.5 pc
Galactic velocity (U, V, W): 32.5 km/s, -20.3 km/s, -0.4 km/s

Data: Extended Hipparcos Compilation (XHIP) and SIMBAD.