Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 29, 2026

Phi3 Hydrae

Phi3 Hydrae is a binary star in the equatorial constellation of Hydra. It originally received the Flamsteed designation of 2 Crateris before being placed in the Hydra constellation. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 15.49 mas as seen from Earth, it is located around 211 light years from the Sun. It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 4.90. It forms a triangle with the fainter φ1 Hydrae and φ2 Hydrae, between μ Hydrae and ν Hydrae.

Last revised
Jul 29, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
Length
555 w
Citations
33
Source
Phi3 Hydrae
Location of φ3 Hydrae (circled in red)
Observation data
Epoch J2000.0      Equinox J2000.0 (ICRS)
Constellation Hydra1
Right ascension 10h 38m 34.95281s2
Declination −16° 52′ 35.6665″2
Apparent magnitude (V) 4.903
Characteristics
Evolutionary stage red clump4
Spectral type G8 III5
B−V color index 0.9126
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)+17.45±0.707 km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: −98.922 mas/yr
Dec.: +25.842 mas/yr
Parallax (π)15.49±0.57 mas2
Distance211 ± 8 ly
(65 ± 2 pc)
Absolute magnitude (MV)+0.898
Orbit3
Period (P)1200 d
Eccentricity (e)0.1
Periastron epoch (T)2420760 JD
Argument of periastron (ω)
(secondary)
270°
Semi-amplitude (K1)
(primary)
4.0 km/s
Details
φ3 Hya
Mass2.045 M
Radius96 R
Luminosity485 L
Surface gravity (log g)2.958 cgs
Temperature4,952±175 K
Metallicity [Fe/H]−0.22±0.128 dex
Rotational velocity (v sin i)3.66 km/s
Age1.175 Gyr
Other designations
φ3 Hya, BD−16°3100, FK5 2850, HD 92214, HIP 52085, HR 4171, SAO 1561229
Database references
SIMBADdata

Phi3 Hydrae (φ3 Hya) is a binary star3 in the equatorial constellation of Hydra. It originally received the Flamsteed designation of 2 Crateris before being placed in the Hydra constellation.10 Based upon an annual parallax shift of 15.49 mas as seen from Earth, it is located around 211 light years from the Sun. It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 4.90.3 It forms a triangle with the fainter φ1 Hydrae and φ2 Hydrae, between μ Hydrae and ν Hydrae.

This is a single-lined spectroscopic binary star system with an orbital period of about 1,200 days and an eccentricity of 0.1.3 The primary, component A, is an evolved G-type giant star with a stellar classification of G8 III.5 It is a red clump star,4 which means it is generating energy through the fusion of helium at its core. The star has twice5 the mass of the Sun and has expanded to 96 times the Sun's radius. It is 1.175 billion years old and is radiating 485 times the solar luminosity from its photosphere at an effective temperature of 4,952 K.5

References

References

  1. Roman, Nancy G. (1987), "Identification of a constellation from a position", Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 99 (617): 695, Bibcode:1987PASP...99..695R, doi:10.1086/132034. Constellation record for this object at VizieR.
  2. van Leeuwen, F. (2007), "Validation of the new Hipparcos reduction", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 474 (2): 653–664, arXiv:0708.1752, Bibcode:2007A&A...474..653V, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20078357, S2CID 18759600.
  3. Pourbaix, D.; et al. (September 2004), "SB9: The ninth catalogue of spectroscopic binary orbits", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 424: 727–732, arXiv:astro-ph/0406573, Bibcode:2004A&A...424..727P, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20041213, S2CID 119387088.
  4. Laney, C. D.; et al. (January 2012), "A new Large Magellanic Cloud K-band distance from precision measurements of nearby red clump stars", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 419 (2): 1637–1641, arXiv:1109.4800, Bibcode:2012MNRAS.419.1637L, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.19826.x, S2CID 117788450.
  5. Luck, R. Earle (September 2015), "Abundances in the Local Region. I. G and K Giants", The Astronomical Journal, 150 (3): 23, arXiv:1507.01466, Bibcode:2015AJ....150...88L, doi:10.1088/0004-6256/150/3/88, S2CID 118505114, 88.
  6. Massarotti, Alessandro; et al. (January 2008), "Rotational and radial velocities for a sample of 761 HIPPARCOS giants and the role of binarity", The Astronomical Journal, 135 (1): 209–231, Bibcode:2008AJ....135..209M, doi:10.1088/0004-6256/135/1/209, S2CID 121883397.
  7. de Bruijne, J. H. J.; Eilers, A.-C. (October 2012), "Radial velocities for the HIPPARCOS-Gaia Hundred-Thousand-Proper-Motion project", Astronomy & Astrophysics, 546: 14, arXiv:1208.3048, Bibcode:2012A&A...546A..61D, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201219219, S2CID 59451347, A61.
  8. McWilliam, Andrew (1990), "High-resolution spectroscopic survey of 671 GK giants. I - Stellar atmosphere parameters and abundances", The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 74: 1075, Bibcode:1990ApJS...74.1075M, doi:10.1086/191527.
  9. "phi Hya". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
  10. Wagman, M. (August 1987), "Flamsteed's Missing Stars", Journal for the History of Astronomy, 18 (3): 216, Bibcode:1987JHA....18..209W, doi:10.1177/002182868701800305, S2CID 118445625.