η² Pictoris, Latinised as Eta² Pictoris, is a solitary star in the southern constellation of

Pictor Pictor is a constellation in the Southern Celestial Hemisphere, located between the star Canopus and the Large Magellanic Cloud. Its name is Latin for painter, and is an abbreviation of the older name Equuleus Pictoris (the "painter's easel ...

. It is visible to the naked eye as a dim, orange-hued star 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 5.02. With an annual parallax shift of as seen from the Earth, it is located around 418 light years from the

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

. It is a member of the

HR 1614 HR 1614 (284 G. Eridani, GJ 183) is a star in the constellation Eridanus. Based upon parallax measurements, it is about distant from the Earth. It is a main sequence star with a stellar classification of K3V. The chromosphere has an effe ...

moving group In astronomy, stellar kinematics is the observational study or measurement of the kinematics or motions of stars through space. Stellar kinematics encompasses the measurement of stellar velocities in the Milky Way and its satellites as well a ...

of stars that share a common motion through space. 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 ...

K-type

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 K5 III, having exhausted the supply of hydrogen 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 ...

, then cooled and expanded off the main sequence. At present it has 41 times the girth of the Sun. It is radiating an estimated 363.5 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 photosphere at an effective temperature of 4,136 K. This is a member of the old disk population and is a suspected

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 e ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eta2 Pictoris K-type giants Suspected variables Pictor Pictoris, Eta2 Durchmusterung objects 033042 023649

1663 Events January–March * January 10 – The Royal African Company is granted a Royal Charter by Charles II of England. * January 23 – The Treaty of Ghilajharighat is signed in India between representatives of the Mugha ...