ν Pictoris, Latinized as Nu Pictoris, is a binary star system in the southern

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 ...

constellation. It is visible to the naked eye as a dim point of light 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 5.60. The system is located around 157 light years from the Sun based on parallax, and is drifting further away with a radial velocity of +7 km/s. Hipparcos satellite astrometry showed that ν Pictoris moved in a way that was not consistent with the proper motion and annual parallax of a single star. The unusual measurements were not readily identifiable as being due to orbital motion, and it was referred to as having a stochastic solution to its astrometry. Later analysis derived an orbit, although nothing is known about the companion except its approximate mass and motion about the visible star. The pair orbit each other with a

period Period may refer to: Common uses * Era, a length or span of time * Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (or rhetorical period), a concept ...

of 452 days and an

eccentricity Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to: * Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal" Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics * Off-Centre (geometry), center, in geometry * Eccentricity (g ...

of 0.2. The primary, component A, is a metal-lined

Am star An Am star or metallic-line star is a type of chemically peculiar star of spectral type A whose spectrum has strong and often variable absorption lines of metals such as zinc, strontium, zirconium, and barium, and deficiencies of others, such as ca ...

with a stellar classification of A1mA3-A9. It has 2.2 times the

radius of the Sun Solar radius is a unit of distance used to express the size of stars in astronomy relative to the Sun. The solar radius is usually defined as the radius to the layer in the Sun's photosphere where the optical depth equals 2/3: :1\,R_ = 6.957\t ...

and is radiating 15 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 7,733 K. The secondary, component B, has around one fourth the mass of the primary. The system is a source for X-ray emission, which is most likely coming from the companion.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nu Pictoris A-type main-sequence stars Am stars Astrometric binaries Pictor Durchmusterung objects 045229 030342 2320