Star
Achernar
Blue-white star · B3Vp
α Eridani · Eridanus
Shown in its true colour — like most stars, it is too far away to photograph as more than a point of light.
Achernar is the brightest star in the constellation of Eridanus and the ninth-brightest in the night sky. It has the Bayer designation Alpha Eridani, which is Latinized from α Eridani and abbreviated Alpha Eri or α Eri. The name Achernar applies to the primary component of a binary system. The two components are designated Alpha Eridani A and B, with the latter known informally as Achernar B. As determined by the Hipparcos astrometry satellite, this system is located at a distance of approximately 139 light-years from the Sun.
Description from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
In your sky
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Key facts
Distance
~139 light-years
Apparent mag.
+0.45
Spectral type
B3Vp
Luminosity
1,052 × Sun
Absolute mag.
−2.71
Catalogue
HIP 7588
Spectral type
B3Vp
True colour from its B–V index (-0.16): a surface around 12700 K.
Did you know
- Achernar is also known as α Eridani.
- Its spectral type B3Vp marks it as a blue-white star.
- It lies in the constellation Eridanus.
