59 Sagittarii

59 Sagittarii

The four stars of the Terebellum
Observation data
Epoch J2000.0      Equinox J2000.0 (ICRS)
Constellation Sagittarius
Right ascension 19h 56m 56.83165s
Declination −27° 10 11.6409
Apparent magnitude (V) 4.54
Characteristics
Spectral type K2.5IIb
U−B color index +1.462±0.048
B−V color index +1.46
R−I color index +0.73
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)−16.4±0.9 km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: +10.46 mas/yr
Dec.: −15.52 mas/yr
Parallax (π)3.92±0.28 mas
Distance830 ± 60 ly
(260 ± 20 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)−2.48
Details
Mass6.2±0.1 M
Radius100.19+4.73
−6.60
 R
Luminosity2,825±287 L
Surface gravity (log g)1.78 cgs
Temperature4,204+146
−96
 K
Metallicity [Fe/H]−0.10±0.06 dex
Age64.2±17.7 Myr
Other designations
b Sgr, 59 Sgr, CD−27°14399, CPD−27°6892, GC 27605, HD 188603, HIP 98162, HR 7604, SAO 188742, PPM 270473
Database references
SIMBADdata

59 Sagittarii is a single star in the southern constellation of Sagittarius, about a degree to the south of Omega Sagittarii near the constellation border with Capricornus. It has the Bayer designation b Sagittarii, or sometimes b1 Sagittarii, while 59 Sagittarii is the Flamsteed designation. The star is visible to the naked eye as a faint, orange-hued star with an apparent visual magnitude of 4.544. It forms the southeast corner of the asterism called the Terebellum. Based upon parallax measurements, the star is located approximately 830 light years away from the Sun. It is moving closer to the Earth with a heliocentric radial velocity of −16 km/s.

This is an aging bright giant star with a stellar classification of K2.5IIb, having exhausted the supply of hydrogen at its core and expanded to 100 times the radius of the Sun. It is 64 million years old with 6.2 times the Sun's mass. The star is radiating 2,825 times the luminosity of the Sun from its swollen photosphere at an effective temperature of 4,204 K.