Star
An orange giant and the brightest star in Antlia, suspected of varying slowly as it nears the end of its life.
| Type | Star |
|---|---|
| Distance from Earth | 366 ly |
| Diameter | 57,099,900 km |
| Mass | 4.38 × 10³⁰ kg |
| Temperature | 3,797°C |
| Apparent magnitude | 4.25 |
| Redshift | 0 |
| Hemisphere | Southern |
| Discovered | 1756 |
Stars spend most of their lives fusing hydrogen into helium in their core, and it's the balance between that outward pressure and gravity pulling inward that fixes how big and how bright a star gets.
At 57,099,900 km across, Alpha Antliae is 41 times the diameter of the Sun.
Its mass is 2.2 times the mass of the Sun.
The light reaching us from Alpha Antliae tonight left it around 366 years ago.
Its surface sits at 4,070 K, cooler than the Sun at 5,772 K, which is what sets its colour.
It has been on record since 1756.
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