Omega Fornacis, which is Latinized from ω Fornacis, is a wide binary star system in the southern constellation of

Fornax Fornax () is a constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere, partly ringed by the celestial river Eridanus. Its name is Latin for furnace. It was named by French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1756. Fornax is one of the 88 modern ...

. It has a blue-white hue and is faintly visible to the naked eye as a fifth-magnitude star. The system lies at a distance of approximately 470 light years from the Sun based on parallax, and is drifting further away with a radial velocity of +10 km/s. The dual nature of this system was discovered in 1836 by John Herschel. As of 2013, the two components had an angular separation of 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 246°. This corresponds to a

projected separation This glossary of astronomy is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to astronomy and cosmology, their sub-disciplines, and related fields. Astronomy is concerned with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outsid ...

of . The magnitude 4.95 primary, designated component A, is a chemically peculiar

B-type main-sequence star A B-type main-sequence star (B V) is a main-sequence (hydrogen-burning) star of spectral type B and luminosity class V. These stars have from 2 to 16 times the mass of the Sun and surface temperatures between 10,000 and 30,000 K. B-type star ...

with a stellar classification of B9V It has 3.4 times the

Sun's mass The solar mass () is a standard unit of mass in astronomy, equal to approximately . It is often used to indicate the masses of other stars, as well as stellar clusters, nebulae, galaxies and black holes. It is approximately equal to the mass of ...

and is radiating around 268 times the

luminosity of the Sun 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 photosphere at an effective temperature of 10,910 K. Component B, the magnitude 7.71 secondary, is an

A-type main-sequence star An A-type main-sequence star (A V) or A dwarf star is a main-sequence (hydrogen-burning) star of spectral type A and luminosity class V (five). These stars have spectra defined by strong hydrogen Balmer absorption lines. They measure between ...

with a class of A3V. It is smaller than the primary, but has a higher

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Omega Fornacis B-type main-sequence stars A-type main-sequence stars Chemically peculiar stars Binary stars Fornax Fornacis, Omega Durchmusterung objects 016046 011918 0749