Alpha Hydri is a star

Star

A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...

 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....

 Hydrus

Hydrus

Hydrus is a small constellation in the southern sky, created in the sixteenth century. Its name means "male water snake", and it should not be confused with Hydra, a much larger constellation which represents a female water snake.-History:...

. It is sometimes informally known as the Head of Hydrus. It should not be confused with Alpha Hydrae (Alphard) in the constellation Hydra. Alpha Hydri is one of only three stars in the constellation Hydrus that is above the fourth visual magnitude. This star can be readily located as it lies to the south and west of the prominent star Achernar

Achernar

Achernar , sometimes spelled Achenar, is the brightest star in the constellation Eridanus and the ninth-brightest star in the night sky. Of the top ten apparent brightest stars —Sirius, Canopus, Alpha Centauri, Arcturus, Vega, Capella, Rigel, Procyon, Achernar and Betelgeuse—Achernar is the hottest...

 in the constellation Eridanus

Eridanus (constellation)

Eridanus is a constellation. It is represented as a river; its name is the Ancient Greek name for the Po River. It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations. It is the sixth largest of the modern...

.

Alpha Hydri belongs to spectral class

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...

 F0V and has 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...

 +2.9. It is 1.8 times the radius of the Sun, about 810 million years old, and is approximately 71 light years 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...

. The space velocity components of this star are U = −14, V = −14 and W = -2 km/s.