Mu Arae
Sign in to saveAlso known as Cervantes, μ Arae, μ Ara, HD 160691, GJ 691, GJ 691.0, LTT 7053, Zkh 261
star in the constellation Ara
Key facts
- Constellation
- Ara
- Right ascension
- 17 44 08.70314
- Declination
- −51 ° 50 ′ 02.5916 ″
- Evolutionary stage
- subgiant
- Spectral type
- G3IV–V
- Apparent magnitude g
- 4.943 ± 0.003
- Apparent magnitude k
- 3.68 ± 0.25
- U b color index
- +0.24
- B v color index
- +0.70
via Wikipedia infobox
~10 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Mu Arae is a single star with a planetary system in the constellation of Ara. Its name is a Bayer designation that is Latinized from μ Arae, and abbreviated Mu Ara or μ Ara. This star is officially named Cervantes, pronounced /sɜːrˈvæntiːz/ or sur-VAN-teez, and is often designated HD 160691. With an apparent visual magnitude of 5.15, it is faintly visible to the naked eye. Based on parallax measurements it is located approximately 51 light-years (16 pc) away from the Sun. It is drifting closer with a radial velocity of −10 km/s.
Mu Arae is similar to the Sun, but is older, 10% more massive, and slightly evolved. It has four known extrasolar planets designated Mu Arae b, c, d and e; later named Quijote, Dulcinea, Rocinante and Sancho, respectively. Three of them have masses comparable with that of Jupiter. Mu Arae c, the innermost, was the first hot Neptune or super-Earth discovered.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Mu Arae” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.