Lambda Eridani (λ Eri) is a star in the constellation Eridanus. It is visible to the naked eye on a dark night with 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 4.27. The distance to this star, based upon an annual parallax shift of 0.00402 arcseconds, is roughly 810 light years. λ Eri is classified in the

General Catalogue of Variable Stars The General Catalogue of Variable Stars (GCVS) is a list of variable stars. Its first edition, containing 10,820 stars, was published in 1948 by the Academy of Sciences of the USSR and edited by B. V. Kukarkin and P. P. Parenago. Second and thi ...

as a

Beta Cephei variable Beta Cephei variables, also known as Beta Canis Majoris stars, are variable stars that exhibit small rapid variations in their brightness due to pulsations of the stars' surfaces, thought due to the unusual properties of iron at temperatures of 200, ...

. The

AAVSO The American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) is an international nonprofit organization, founded in 1911, focused on coordinating, analyzing, publishing, and archiving variable star observations made largely by amateur astronomers ...

International Variable Star Index defines a LERI type of variation. λ Eri is classified as LERI + GCAS since it shows both short term periodic variations and longer timescale eruptive variation. It was one of the first stars where short-period variations were found. The line profile variability periods are 0.702d and 0.269d, with intermittently present periods of 0.6d and 0.75d. The photometric

amplitude The amplitude of a periodic variable is a measure of its change in a single period (such as time or spatial period). The amplitude of a non-periodic signal is its magnitude compared with a reference value. There are various definitions of am ...

of the variation is 0.010 magnitude. This is a

giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...

subgiant A subgiant is a star that is brighter than a normal main-sequence star of the same spectral class, but not as bright as giant stars. The term subgiant is applied both to a particular spectral luminosity class and to a stage in the evolution ...

Be star Be stars are a heterogeneous set of stars with B spectral types and emission lines. A narrower definition, sometimes referred to as ''classical Be stars'', is a non-supergiant B star whose spectrum has, or had at some time, one or more Balmer e ...

with a stellar classification of B2 IVne or B2 III(e)p, depending on the source. It is spinning rapidly with a

projected rotational velocity Stellar rotation is the angular motion of a star about its axis. The rate of rotation can be measured from the spectrum of the star, or by timing the movements of active features on the surface. The rotation of a star produces an equatorial bulg ...

of 327 km/s. Compare this to the estimated break-up velocity of 440 km/s. This rotation is giving the star an oblate shape with an

equatorial bulge An equatorial bulge is a difference between the equatorial and polar diameters of a planet, due to the centrifugal force exerted by the rotation about the body's axis. A rotating body tends to form an oblate spheroid rather than a sphere. On E ...

that is 25% larger than the polar radius. The most likely rotation period is deemed to be twice the period of variation, or 1.4 days. The star also possesses a rotating circumstellar disc, seen edge on, which makes Lambda Eri a "shell star", where the disk appears more opaque than usual. Like most Be stars, Lambda Eridani emits soft

X-rays An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nbs ...

. In 1993, a giant X-ray flare was observed in which the X-ray luminosity increased by a factor of six over a 39-hour period. Lambda Eridani has about nine times the mass of the Sun, and seven times the Sun's radius. It radiates 14,700 times the

solar 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 outer atmosphere at an effective temperature of .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lambda Eridani B-type subgiants Be stars Eridanus (constellation) Lambda Eridani variables Eridani, Lambda Eridani, 69 033328 023972 01679 Durchmusterung objects