Alpha Volantis (Alpha Vol), Latinized from α Volantis, is a binary star system located in the southern constellation

Volans Volans is a constellation in the southern sky. It represents a flying fish; its name is a shortened form of its original name, Piscis Volans. Volans was one of twelve constellations created by Petrus Plancius from the observations of Pieter Dirk ...

. It has an

apparent visual magnitude Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the brightness of a star or other astronomical object observed from Earth. An object's apparent magnitude depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance from Earth, and any extinction of the object's lig ...

of +4.00, which is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye. Based upon parallax measurements made with the Hipparcos spacecraft, it is located at a distance of 125 light years from the

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

. As of 2010, the two components of this system had an angular separation of 0.0318 ″ along a

position angle In astronomy, position angle (usually abbreviated PA) is the convention for measuring angles on the sky. The International Astronomical Union defines it as the angle measured relative to the north celestial pole (NCP), turning positive into the ...

of 286.9°. The magnitude difference between the two components is 0.1. It is considered a member of the

Sirius supercluster Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Greek word , or , meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated α Canis Majoris, Latinized to Alpha Canis Majoris, and abbreviated Alpha CMa ...

. The primary component is an

Am star An Am star or metallic-line star is a type of chemically peculiar star of spectral type A whose spectrum has strong and often variable absorption lines of metals such as zinc, strontium, zirconium, and barium, and deficiencies of others, such as ca ...

with a stellar classification of kA3hA5mA5 V. This notation indicates the star has the weak calcium II K-line of an A3 star, and the hydrogen and

metallic Metallic may be a reference to: *Metal * Metalloid, metal-like substance *Metallic bonding, type of chemical bonding * Metallicity, in astronomy the proportion of elements other than helium and hydrogen in an object *Metallic color, a color that ...

lines of an A5 star. It has an estimated age of 427 million years. In 1992, it was found to be emitting an

infrared excess An infrared excess is a measurement of an astronomical source, typically a star, that in their spectral energy distribution has a greater measured infrared flux than expected by assuming the star is a blackbody radiator. Infrared excesses are oft ...

, suggesting the presence of a

circumstellar disk A circumstellar disc (or circumstellar disk) is a torus, pancake or ring-shaped accretion disk of matter composed of gas, dust, planetesimals, asteroids, or collision fragments in orbit around a star. Around the youngest stars, they are the ...

of dust. However, subsequent observations have not confirmed this.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alpha Volantis Volantis, Alpha Volans (constellation) A-type main-sequence stars 044382 3615 Gliese and GJ objects Durchmusterung objects 078045 Binary stars Am stars