Star profile
Gamma Reticulum
Variable starWhat is Gamma Reticulum
Gamma Reticuli is a cool M4 red giant, swollen to 115 times the Sun's radius and radiating 1,846 times more energy despite its 3,450-kelvin surface. At 470 light-years it pulsates over a brief period inside a long-period variable pattern. It is the reddest star of Reticulum, the little Net charted by Lacaille in the eighteenth century to honour the reticle of his telescope.
Where it is and when to see it
Gamma Reticulum lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is September, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it never rises above the horizon.
- From New York it never rises above the horizon.
- From Sydney it never sets and culminates about 62° up.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 28° N.
It ranks no. 4 in brightness among the 16 stars of Reticulum in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alpha Reticulum, the brightest: it lies about 2° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 470 years ago.
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Astronomical data for Gamma Reticulum
- Constellation
- Reticulum
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.48
- Distance
- 469.4 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 60.224° · Dec -62.159°
- Catalogue
- HIP 18744 · HD 25705
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Other stars in Reticulum
Reticulum has 16 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Alpha Reticulum3.33
- Beta Reticulum3.84
- Epsilon Reticulum4.44
- Delta Reticulum4.56
- Kappa Reticulum4.71
- Iota Reticulum4.97
- Zeta 2 Reticulum5.24
- Eta Reticulum5.24