Tau_Draconis
Tau Draconis
Star in the constellation Draco
Tau Draconis, Latinized from τ Draconis, is an astrometric binary[9] star system in the northern circumpolar constellation of Draco. The star is faintly visible to the naked eye, having an apparent visual magnitude of 4.45.[2] Based upon an annual parallax shift of 22.28 mas as measured from Earth,[1] it is located around 146 light years from the Sun. Its proper motion is propelling it across the sky at the rate of 0.176 arc seconds per year.[10]
This is a K-type giant star with a stellar classification of K2 III:,[3] where the semi-colon indicates some uncertainty about its spectral value. It is considered metal-rich[6] star and is past the first dredge-up phase of its post-main sequence evolution, although it shows under-abundances of carbon and oxygen in its spectrum.[5] The star has 1.25[3] times the mass of the Sun and is an estimated 6.48[3] billion years old. It is radiating 48[3] times the solar luminosity from its enlarged photosphere at an effective temperature of 4,413 K.[3]