Epsilon Eridani

(Ɛ Eri) An orange-red main-sequence star located in the constellation Eridanus at a distance of 3.2 parsecs. It is a young star (about 500 million to a billion years old) and has between 75% and 85% of the Sun's mass and size but only 27% to 35% of its luminosity. In 1998, astronomers announced the detection of a cool dusty ring around the star, encircling it at a distance of between 35 and 75 AU. This is thought to be a belt of rocky and icy bodies equivalent to the Solar System's Edgworth–Kuiper Belt. In 2000, researchers announced the detection of a giant planet orbiting Epsilon Eridani at a mean distance of about 3.3 AU in an elliptical orbit (eccentricity: 0.6) with a period of 6.8 years. The planet is estimated to have a mass equal to about 1.2 times that of Jupiter. The existence of a second and smaller planet orbiting about 40 AU out from the star has been inferred from disturbances in the structure of the dust ring but remains unconfirmed. m_v : 3.73; spectral type: K2 V.

Collins Dictionary of Astronomy © Market House Books Ltd, 2006

Mentioned in

References in periodicals archive

That star is called epsilon Eridani. It's about 10 light years away from the sun.

Nearby Star: A Model of Our Early Solar System

Having made an emergency landing in a foreign world - called Epsilon Eridani B - the characters have a long journey ahead of them as they struggle to stay alive.

VALLEYS PARK TO STAR IN OUTER SPACE; Pair hoping to raise funds to make sci-fi film on shoestring

Centauri, Sirius, and Epsilon Eridani. (Procyon is probably slightly

Doubling up in Cygnus: the celestial Swan boasts some of the sky's best double stars

This time the Western Republic is about to launch Columbia, a well advanced spaceship than its Apollo predecessor, to embark on an exploration of Epsilon Eridani.

The Collective

There was no detection of exoplanets orbiting Epsilon Eridani and data from HD128311 was very noisy.

Ordinary and Special General Meetings, 2008 March 26 held at the RAS Lecture Theatre, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London WI

Only radio static has been heard on that spectrum of the galactic radio network ever since Frank Drake pointed an eighty-five-foot radio dish based at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank at Epsilon Eridani and Tau Ceti--two relatively nearby Sun-like stars--back in 1960.

New galactic watering holes

In the annals of planethood, astronomers consider the star Epsilon Eridani a member of the fabulous four.

Double the rubble: neighboring star system hosts two asteroid belts: Epsilon Eridani may shed light on youthful solar system

Epsilon Eridani looks very like a much younger version of our own star system, say astronomers.

Search for hidden planets in twin solar system

It is orbiting the star Epsilon Eridani. The planet could not support life but it shows there may be similarities between the solar system and our own.

HIDDEN IN SPACE ..A NEW PLANET EARTH

It is orbiting the star Epsilon Eridani just 10.5 light years from us which in space terms is like finding a planet in your own back yard.

IS THERE SOMEONE OUT THERE?; New solar system may have planet like Earth

Picard takes his place in the Center Chair, straightens his tunic, and points his right index finger forward in a familiar gesture as his voice intones, "Engage." At this command the Enterprise flashes into warp speed and sails with incredible velocity toward Epsilon Eridani.

From Sumer to Star Trek: the history of star names: star names span the mythic literature of the past and the excitement of future space exploration