Star profile

Epsilon Fornax

3D likeness based on its real data · class G · ~5,500 K

What is Epsilon Fornax

Epsilon Fornacis is a high-proper-motion binary 105 light-years away, in the small southern constellation of the Furnace, one of the figures Lacaille drew from the Cape of Good Hope in the eighteenth century. Its primary is an orange subgiant with a peculiar shortage of iron and carbon. The pair orbits each other in a long ellipse with a period of about 38 years — a single revolution barely fits within a human lifetime.

Where it is and when to see it

Epsilon Fornax lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is October, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it culminates about 10° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 21° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 84° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere south of 62° N.

It ranks no. 19 in brightness among the 26 stars of Fornax in our catalogue. To find it, start from Dalim, the brightest: it lies about 2° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 110 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Epsilon Fornax

Constellation: Fornax
Apparent magnitude: 5.88
Distance: 105.0 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 45.407° · Dec -28.092°
Catalogue: HIP 14086 · HD 18907

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Other stars in Fornax

Fornax has 26 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 26 stars in Fornax