Alpha Caeli is a double star

Double star

In observational astronomy, a double star is a pair of stars that appear close to each other in the sky as seen from Earth when viewed through an optical telescope. This can happen either because the pair forms a binary star, i.e...

 system in the constellation

Constellation

In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....

 Caelum

Caelum

Caelum is a faint constellation in the southern sky, introduced in the 18th century by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille. Its name means "the chisel" in Latin, and it was formerly known as Cæla Sculptoris, "the sculptor's chisel"...

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Alpha Caeli A is an F-type main sequence star with a stellar classification

Stellar classification

In astronomy, stellar classification is a classification of stars based on their spectral characteristics. The spectral class of a star is a designated class of a star describing the ionization of its chromosphere, what atomic excitations are most prominent in the light, giving an objective measure...

 of F2V and an apparent magnitude

Apparent magnitude

The apparent magnitude of a celestial body is a measure of its brightness as seen by an observer on Earth, adjusted to the value it would have in the absence of the atmosphere...

 of +4.44. It has 1.48 times the mass of the Sun

Solar mass

The solar mass , , is a standard unit of mass in astronomy, used to indicate the masses of other stars and galaxies...

 and 1.3 times the solar radius. The projected rotational velocity

Stellar rotation

Stellar rotation is the angular motion of a star about its axis. The rate of rotation can be measured from the spectrum of the star, or by timing the movements of active features on the surface....

 at the stellar equator is 47.8 km/s. It is suspected of being a Delta Scuti variable

Delta Scuti variable

A Delta Scuti variable is a variable star which exhibits variations in its luminosity due to both radial and non-radial pulsations of the star's surface. Typical brightness fluctuations are from 0.003 to 0.9 magnitudes in V over a period of a few hours, although the amplitude and period of the...

 star.

The companion is a spectral class M0.5V red dwarf

Red dwarf

According to the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, a red dwarf star is a small and relatively cool star, of the main sequence, either late K or M spectral type....

 star with absolute magnitude

Absolute magnitude

Absolute magnitude is the measure of a celestial object's intrinsic brightness. it is also the apparent magnitude a star would have if it were 32.6 light years away from Earth...

 9.80. It is a UV Ceti variable star that undergoes random increases in luminosity. This star is currently separated from the primary by an angle of 6.6 arcseconds, which indicates an orbit with a semimajor axis whose expected value is 206 AU

Astronomical unit

An astronomical unit is a unit of length equal to about or approximately the mean Earth–Sun distance....

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Alpha Caeli is approximately 65.7 light years

Light Years

Light Years is the seventh studio album by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue. It was released on 25 September 2000 by Parlophone and Mushroom Records. The album's style was indicative of her return to "mainstream pop dance tunes"....

 from Earth

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...

 and is an estimated 900 million years old. The space velocity components of this system are U = 10, V = 6 and W = -10 km/s. It is orbiting the Milky Way

Milky Way

The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...

 galaxy at an average distance of 8.006 kpc from the core and with an orbital eccentricity

Orbital eccentricity

The orbital eccentricity of an astronomical body is the amount by which its orbit deviates from a perfect circle, where 0 is perfectly circular, and 1.0 is a parabola, and no longer a closed orbit...

 of 0.07. This orbit lies close to the galactic plane, and the system travels no more than 0.05 kpc above or below this plane. Alpha Caeli is probably a member of the Ursa Major moving group

Ursa Major Moving Group

The Ursa Major Moving Group, also known as Collinder 285 or Ursa Major association, is a nearby stellar moving group, a set of stars with common velocities in space and thought to have a common origin. Its core is located roughly 80 light years away...

 of stars that have similar kinematic properties and probably originated from the same star cluster

Star cluster

Star clusters or star clouds are groups of stars. Two types of star clusters can be distinguished: globular clusters are tight groups of hundreds of thousands of very old stars which are gravitationally bound, while open clusters, more loosely clustered groups of stars, generally contain less than...

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