Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 21, 2026

HD 50002

HD 50002 is a solitary star in the southern circumpolar constellation Volans. It is faintly visible to the naked eye with an apparent magnitude of 6.09 and is located at a distance of 708 light years. However, it is drifting further with a heliocentric radial velocity of 5.1 km/s.

Last revised
Jun 21, 2026
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≈ 3 min
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Citations
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Wikipedia ↗
HD 50002
Observation data
Epoch J2000      Equinox J2000
Constellation Volans1
Right ascension 06h 44m 55.6456s2
Declination −70° 26′ 01.527″2
Apparent magnitude (V) 6.09±0.013
Characteristics
Evolutionary stage red giant branch2
Spectral type K3 III4
U−B color index +1.505
B−V color index +1.335
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)5.1±0.46 km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: −16.313 mas/yr2
Dec.: +6.287 mas/yr2
Parallax (π)4.6072±0.0320 mas2
Distance708 ± 5 ly
(217 ± 2 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)−0.351
Details
Mass1.237 M☉
Radius27.868 R☉
Luminosity257±59 L☉
Surface gravity (log g)1.597 cgs
Temperature4,444±12210 K
Metallicity [Fe/H]+0.2211 dex
Rotational velocity (v sin i)<112 km/s
Other designations
4 G. Volantis, CPD−70°560, GC 8895, HD 50002, HIP 32332, HR 2536, SAO 2563311314
Database references
SIMBADdata

HD 50002 (HR 2536) is a solitary star in the southern circumpolar constellation Volans. It is faintly visible to the naked eye with an apparent magnitude of 6.093 and is located at a distance of 708 light years.2 However, it is drifting further with a heliocentric radial velocity of 5.1 km/s.6

HD 50002 has a classification of K3 III,4 indicating that it is a red giant. HD 50002 has a comparable mass to the Sun,7 but has expanded to an enlarged radius of 27.9 R☉.8 It radiates at 257 times the luminosity of the Sun9 from its photosphere at an effective temperature of 4,444 K,10 giving an orange hue. HD 50002 is metal enriched, with 166% the abundance of heavy metals compared to the Sun,11 and has a projected rotational velocity too low to be measured accurately.12

Refrerences

  1. Anderson, E.; Francis, Ch. (2012). "XHIP: An extended hipparcos compilation". Astronomy Letters. 38 (5): 331. arXiv:1108.4971. Bibcode:2012AstL...38..331A. doi:10.1134/S1063773712050015. XHIP record for this object at VizieR.
  2. Vallenari, A.; et al. (Gaia collaboration) (2023). "Gaia Data Release 3. Summary of the content and survey properties". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 674: A1. arXiv:2208.00211. Bibcode:2023A&A...674A...1G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202243940. S2CID 244398875. Gaia DR3 record for this source at VizieR.
  3. Høg, E.; Fabricius, C.; Makarov, V. V.; Urban, S.; Corbin, T.; Wycoff, G.; Bastian, U.; Schwekendiek, P.; Wicenec, A. (March 2000). "The Tycho-2 catalogue of the 2.5 million brightest stars". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 355: L27–L30. Bibcode:2000A&A...355L..27H. ISSN 0004-6361.
  4. Houk, N.; Cowley, A. P. (1975). University of Michigan Catalogue of two-dimensional spectral types for the HD stars. Volume I. Declinations -90_ to -53_ƒ0. Bibcode:1975mcts.book.....H.
  5. Cousins, A. W. J.; Stoy, R. H. (1962). "Photoelectric magnitudes and colours of Southern stars". Royal Greenwich Observatory Bulletins. 64: 103. Bibcode:1962RGOB...64..103C.
  6. Gontcharov, G. A. (November 2006). "Pulkovo Compilation of Radial Velocities for 35 495 Hipparcos stars in a common system". Astronomy Letters. 32 (11): 759–771. arXiv:1606.08053. Bibcode:2006AstL...32..759G. doi:10.1134/S1063773706110065. ISSN 1063-7737. S2CID 119231169.
  7. Anders, F.; et al. (August 2019). "Photo-astrometric distances, extinctions, and astrophysical parameters for Gaia DR2 stars brighter than G = 18". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 628: A94. arXiv:1904.11302. Bibcode:2019A&A...628A..94A. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201935765. ISSN 0004-6361.
  8. Kervella, Pierre; Arenou, Frédéric; Thévenin, Frédéric (2022). "Stellar and substellar companions from Gaia EDR3". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 657: A7. arXiv:2109.10912. Bibcode:2022A&A...657A...7K. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202142146. eISSN 1432-0746. ISSN 0004-6361.
  9. Brown, A. G. A.; et al. (Gaia collaboration) (August 2018). "Gaia Data Release 2: Summary of the contents and survey properties". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 616. A1. arXiv:1804.09365. Bibcode:2018A&A...616A...1G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201833051. Gaia DR2 record for this source at VizieR.
  10. Stassun, Keivan G.; et al. (9 September 2019). "The Revised TESS Input Catalog and Candidate Target List". The Astronomical Journal. 158 (4): 138. arXiv:1905.10694. Bibcode:2019AJ....158..138S. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ab3467. ISSN 0004-6256.
  11. Eggen, O. J. (February 1994). "Evolved GK stars near the Sun. 2: The young disk population". The Astronomical Journal. 107: 594. Bibcode:1994AJ....107..594E. doi:10.1086/116879. ISSN 0004-6256.
  12. De Medeiros, J. R.; Alves, S.; Udry, S.; Andersen, J.; Nordström, B.; Mayor, M. (January 2014). "A catalog of rotational and radial velocities for evolved stars: V. Southern stars". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 561: A126. arXiv:1312.3474. Bibcode:2014A&A...561A.126D. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201220762. ISSN 0004-6361.
  13. "HD 80194". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  14. Gould, Benjamin Apthorp (1878). "Uranometria Argentina : brillantez y posicion de las estrellas fijas, hasta la septima magnitud, comprendidas dentro de cien grados del polo austral : con atlas". Resultados del Observatorio Nacional Argentino. 1. Bibcode:1879RNAO....1.....G.