Theta Apodis (θ Apodis, θ Aps) is a

variable star A variable star is a star whose brightness as seen from Earth (its apparent magnitude) changes with time. This variation may be caused by a change in emitted light or by something partly blocking the light, so variable stars are classified as ...

in the southern

circumpolar constellation A circumpolar star is a star that, as viewed from a given latitude on Earth, never sets below the horizon due to its apparent proximity to one of the celestial poles. Circumpolar stars are therefore visible from said location toward the nearest po ...

Apus Apus is a small constellation in the Southern Celestial Hemisphere, southern sky. It represents a bird-of-paradise, and its name means "without feet" in Greek language, Greek because the bird-of-paradise was once wrongly believed to lack feet. ...

. It is a

with an apparent visual magnitude range of 4.65 to 6.20, which, according to the Bortle Dark-Sky Scale, means it is a faint star but visible to the naked eye from dark suburban skies. The distance to Theta Apodis is approximately , based upon

parallax Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight and is measured by the angle or semi-angle of inclination between those two lines. Due to foreshortening, nearby objects ...

measurements made from the

Gaia In Greek mythology, Gaia (; from Ancient Greek , a poetical form of , 'land' or 'earth'),, , . also spelled Gaea , is the personification of the Earth and one of the Greek primordial deities. Gaia is the ancestral mother—sometimes parthenog ...

telescope. It is unusual in that it is a red star with a high proper motion (greater than 50 milliarcseconds a year). ThetaApsLightCurve

This is an

evolved Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation t ...

red giant A red giant is a luminous giant star of low or intermediate mass (roughly 0.3–8 solar masses ()) in a late phase of stellar evolution. The outer atmosphere is inflated and tenuous, making the radius large and the surface temperature around or ...

that is currently on the

asymptotic giant branch The asymptotic giant branch (AGB) is a region of the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram populated by evolved cool luminous stars. This is a period of stellar evolution undertaken by all low- to intermediate-mass stars (about 0.5 to 8 solar masses) lat ...

, with a

stellar classification In astronomy, stellar classification is the classification of stars based on their stellar spectrum, spectral characteristics. Electromagnetic radiation from the star is analyzed by splitting it with a Prism (optics), prism or diffraction grati ...

of M7 III. It shines with a

luminosity Luminosity is an absolute measure of radiated electromagnetic power (light), the radiant power emitted by a light-emitting object over time. In astronomy, luminosity is the total amount of electromagnetic energy emitted per unit of time by a st ...

approximately 3879 times that of the Sun and has a surface temperature of . It is a semiregular pulsating variable and its brightness changes over a range of 0.56 magnitudes with a period of 119 days. A longer period of around 1,000 days has also been detected. It is losing mass at the rate of times the mass of the Sun per year through its

stellar wind A stellar wind is a flow of gas ejected from the upper atmosphere of a star. It is distinguished from the bipolar outflows characteristic of young stars by being less collimated, although stellar winds are not generally spherically symmetric. D ...

. Dusty material ejected from this star is interacting with the surrounding

interstellar medium In astronomy, the interstellar medium is the matter and radiation that exist in the space between the star systems in a galaxy. This matter includes gas in ionic, atomic, and molecular form, as well as dust and cosmic rays. It fills interstella ...

, forming a bow shock as the star moves through the galaxy. The stand-off distance for this front is located at about from Theta Apodis. Theta Apodis has been identified as an

astrometric binary A binary star is a system of two stars that are gravitationally bound to and in orbit around each other. Binary stars in the night sky that are seen as a single object to the naked eye are often resolved using a telescope as separate stars, in wh ...

, indicating that it has an orbiting companion that causes gravitational perturbation of the primary star.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Theta Apodis 122250 Apodis, Theta Apus M-type giants Semiregular variable stars 068815 Asymptotic-giant-branch stars 5261 Durchmusterung objects Astrometric binaries