50 Cancri

50 Cancri
Observation data
Epoch J2000.0      Equinox J2000.0
Constellation Cancer
Right ascension 08h 46m 56.01919s
Declination +12° 06 35.8305
Apparent magnitude (V) 5.89
Characteristics
Evolutionary stage main sequence
Spectral type A1 Vp
B−V color index 0.120±0.005
Variable type None
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)23.3±2.9 km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: −63.773 mas/yr
Dec.: −50.694 mas/yr
Parallax (π)17.7961±0.0792 mas
Distance183.3 ± 0.8 ly
(56.2 ± 0.3 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)+1.82±0.01
Details
Mass2.1 M
Luminosity10.8±0.21 L
Surface gravity (log g)4.40 cgs
Temperature8,340±48 K
Rotational velocity (v sin i)18 km/s
Age264 Myr
Other designations
A2 Cancri, 50 Cnc, BD+12°1904, HD 74873, HIP 43121, HR 3481, SAO 98117
Database references
SIMBADdata

50 Cancri is a single star in the zodiac constellation of Cancer, located 183 light years away from the Sun. It has the Bayer designation A2 Cancri; 50 Cancri is the Flamsteed designation. It is faintly visible to the naked eye as a white-hued star with an apparent visual magnitude of 5.89. The star is moving away from the Earth with a heliocentric radial velocity of 23 km/s, having come to within 118 light-years some 1.2 million years ago.

This is a chemically peculiar A-type main-sequence star with a stellar classification of A1 Vp. It is a Lambda Boötis star displaying strongly-depleted iron peak and alpha process elements, but otherwise relatively normal solar abundances. The star shows no variability down to a detection limit of 1.6 millimagnitudes. It is 264 million years old with a relatively low projected rotational velocity of 18 km/s. 50 Cancri has 2.1 times the mass of the Sun and is radiating 11 times the Sun's luminosity from its photosphere at an effective temperature of 8,340 K.

50 Cancri has an infrared excess, which most likely indicates a debris disk in orbit around the host star. A blackbody model of the emission shows a two component fit, with the warm section having a temperature of 246±91 K at a radius of 4±3 AU from the star, and a cool component at 108±21 K with a separation of 22±8 AU.