HIP 56948 (also known as HD 101364) is a

solar twin Solar may refer to: Astronomy * Of or relating to the Sun ** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun ** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. " solar panels") ** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indica ...

star of type G5V. It is one of the most Sun-like stars yet known in terms of size, mass, temperature, and chemical makeup. The Sun is about 4.6 billion years old, and HIP 56948 is believed to be about 7.1 billion years old. Both stars are between a third and a halfway through their life on the main sequence. It is 208

light years A light-year, alternatively spelled light year, is a large unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equivalent to about 9.46 trillion kilometers (), or 5.88 trillion miles ().One trillion here is taken to be 1012 ...

away in the constellation of

Draco Draco is the Latin word for serpent or dragon. Draco or Drako may also refer to: People * Draco (lawgiver) (from Greek: Δράκων; 7th century BC), the first lawgiver of ancient Athens, Greece, from whom the term ''draconian'' is derived * ...

, lying about halfway between Polaris and Dubhe on the celestial sphere. Astronomers have looked for planets in the system, so far without finding any. These observations suggest that the star does not have any

hot Jupiter Hot Jupiters (sometimes called hot Saturns) are a class of gas giant exoplanets that are inferred to be physically similar to Jupiter but that have very short orbital periods (). The close proximity to their stars and high surface-atmosphere tem ...

Jorge Meléndez Jorge Meléndez Ramírez (April 15, 1871 – November 22, 1953), was born to Rafael Meléndez and Mercedes Ramírez (daughter of Norberto Ramírez). Married to Tula Mazzini, he had three children: Jorge (who died in his youth), María de los ...

of the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

and Iván Ramírez of the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

analysed the star in 2007 using the 2.7 metre Harlan J. Smith telescope at

McDonald Observatory McDonald Observatory is an astronomical observatory located near unincorporated community of Fort Davis in Jeff Davis County, Texas, United States. The facility is located on Mount Locke in the Davis Mountains of West Texas, with additional faci ...

. Most other solar analogs such as

18 Scorpii 18 Scorpii is a solitary star located at a distance of some from the Sun at the northern edge of the Scorpius constellation. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 5.5, which is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye outside of u ...

are unlike the Sun in that they have several times the

lithium Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid ...

abundance. HIP 56948 is among the best candidates for a

because of the known possible contenders, its lithium abundance most resembles that of the Sun. A 2009 high-dispersion spectroscopic study from the Astronomical Society of Japan confirms this. In the abstract to their paper, the star's discoverers say:

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:HIP 56948 Draco (constellation) G-type main-sequence stars Solar twins 101364 056948 BD+69 0620

See also

Notes

References