HD_15115
HD 15115
F-type subgiant star in the constellation Cetus
HD 15115 is a single[10] star in the equatorial constellation of Cetus. It is readily visible in binoculars or a small telescope, but is considered too dim to be seen with the naked eye at an apparent visual magnitude of 6.76.[2] The distance to this object is 160 light years based on parallax,[1] and it is slowly drifting further away at the rate of about 1 km/s.[5] It has been proposed as a member of the Beta Pictoris moving group[11] or the Tucana-Horologium association of co-moving stars; there is some ambiguity as to its true membership.[12]
This object has a stellar classification of F4IV,[3] suggesting it is an aging subgiant star that has exhausted the supply of hydrogen at its core. MacGregor and associates (2015) instead classify it as a young F-type main-sequence star with a class of F2V.[4] Age estimates give a value of 500[8] million years, while membership in the β Pictoris moving group would indicate an age of around 21±4 million.[4] It has 1.19[6] times the mass of the Sun, 1.39[1] times the Sun's radius, and has a relatively high rate of spin with a projected rotational velocity of 90 km/s.[7] The star is radiating 3.74[1] times the luminosity of the Sun from its photosphere at an effective temperature of 6,811 K.[1] Its metallicity – the abundance of elements other than hydrogen and helium – is nearly the same as in the Sun.[6]
HD 15115 was shown to have an asymmetric debris disk surrounding it, which is being viewed nearly edge-on. The reason for the asymmetry is thought to be either the gravitational pull of a passing star (HIP 12545), an exoplanet, or interaction with the local interstellar medium.[13] A magnitude 11.35 visual companion lies at an angular separation of 12.6″ along a position angle of 195°, as of 2015.[11]