HD 23319 (h Eridani) is an orange-hued star in the constellation Eridanus. 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 4.59, which is sufficiently bright to make it visible to the naked eye. The distance to HD 23319 can be estimated from its annual parallax shift of , which yields a range of about 170 light years. It is moving further away from the Earth with a heliocentric radial velocity of +9.9 km/s. This is an aging

giant star A giant star is a star with substantially larger radius and luminosity than a main-sequence (or ''dwarf'') star of the same surface temperature.Giant star, entry in ''Astronomy Encyclopedia'', ed. Patrick Moore, New York: Oxford University Press ...

with a stellar classification of , where the suffix notation indicates the

spectrum A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors ...

shows a mild overabundance of the cyano radical. It is a

red clump Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondary ...

giant, indicating it is on the horizontal branch and is generating energy through

helium fusion The triple-alpha process is a set of nuclear fusion reactions by which three helium-4 nuclei (alpha particles) are transformed into carbon. Triple-alpha process in stars Helium accumulates in the cores of stars as a result of the proton–pro ...

at its

core Core or cores may refer to: Science and technology * Core (anatomy), everything except the appendages * Core (manufacturing), used in casting and molding * Core (optical fiber), the signal-carrying portion of an optical fiber * Core, the centra ...

. The star has 1.2 times the mass of the Sun and, at the age of 4.6 billion years, has expanded to 11 times the Sun's radius. It is radiating 63 times the

Sun's luminosity The solar luminosity (), is a unit of radiant flux (power emitted in the form of photons) conventionally used by astronomers to measure the luminosity of stars, galaxies and other celestial objects in terms of the output of the Sun. One nominal ...

from its enlarged photosphere at an effective temperature of 4,581 K.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:HD 23319 K-type giants Horizontal-branch stars Eridanus (constellation) Eridani, h Durchmusterung objects 023319 017351 1143