HD 15115 is a single[10] star in the equatorial constellation of Cetus. It is readily visible in binoculars or a small telescope, but is considered too dim to be seen with the naked eye at an apparent visual magnitude of 6.76.[2] The distance to this object is 160 light years based on parallax,[1] and it is slowly drifting further away at the rate of about 1 km/s.[5] It has been proposed as a member of the Beta Pictoris moving group[11] or the Tucana-Horologium association of co-moving stars; there is some ambiguity as to its true membership.[12]
Debris disk surrounding young star HD 15115 Credit: NASA | |
Observation data Epoch J2000 Equinox J2000 | |
---|---|
Constellation | Cetus |
Right ascension | 02h 26m 16.24577s[1] |
Declination | +06° 17′ 33.1880″[1] |
Apparent magnitude (V) | 6.76[2] |
Characteristics | |
Spectral type | F4IV[3] or F2V[4] |
U−B color index | −0.03[2] |
B−V color index | +0.39[2] |
Astrometry | |
Radial velocity (Rv) | 0.81±0.12[5] km/s |
Proper motion (μ) | RA: +88.030[1] mas/yr Dec.: -50.515[1] mas/yr |
Parallax (π) | 20.4065 ± 0.0418 mas[1] |
Distance | 159.8 ± 0.3 ly (49.0 ± 0.1 pc) |
Details | |
Mass | 1.19[6] M☉ |
Radius | 1.39±0.06[1] R☉ |
Luminosity | 3.74±0.01[1] L☉ |
Surface gravity (log g) | 4.30[6] cgs |
Temperature | 6,811+148 −152[1] K |
Metallicity [Fe/H] | 0.96[6] dex |
Rotational velocity (v sin i) | 89.8[7] km/s |
Age | 500[8] Myr |
Other designations | |
Database references | |
SIMBAD | data |
This object has a stellar classification of F4IV,[3] suggesting it is an aging subgiant star that has exhausted the supply of hydrogen at its core. MacGregor and associates (2015) instead classify it as a young F-type main-sequence star with a class of F2V.[4] Age estimates give a value of 500[8] million years, while membership in the β Pictoris moving group would indicate an age of around 21±4 million.[4] It has 1.19[6] times the mass of the Sun, 1.39[1] times the Sun's radius, and has a relatively high rate of spin with a projected rotational velocity of 90 km/s.[7] The star is radiating 3.74[1] times the luminosity of the Sun from its photosphere at an effective temperature of 6,811 K.[1] Its metallicity – the abundance of elements other than hydrogen and helium – is nearly the same as in the Sun.[6]
HD 15115 was shown to have an asymmetric debris disk surrounding it, which is being viewed nearly edge-on. The reason for the asymmetry is thought to be either the gravitational pull of a passing star (HIP 12545), an exoplanet, or interaction with the local interstellar medium.[13] A magnitude 11.35 visual companion lies at an angular separation of 12.6″ along a position angle of 195°, as of 2015.[11]