EZ Aquarii A is the brightest of three small red dwarfs bound together in Aquarius, a triple system of flare stars hidden from the naked eye.
At a glance
| type | red dwarf (class M) |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 11.3 light-years (3.45 pc) |
| its light left it | 11.3 years ago |
| luminosity | 0.0006 × the Sun |
| radius | 0.12 × the Sun |
| surface temperature | 3,050 K |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About EZ Aquarii A
EZ Aquarii is a system of three red dwarfs. The A star has a very close companion that is detected only from the shifting of its spectrum, and a third star orbits the pair further out. All three are tiny, cool stars with a small fraction of the Sun’s mass.
It is listed as a flare star: like many very small red dwarfs, it can brighten suddenly when its magnetic field reconnects. Together the three give out only a trace of the Sun’s light, far too little to see from Earth without a telescope.
What you see in the piece
Fly to it and you find a dim, deep-red star. In HUMAN EYE there is nothing to see where it lies in Aquarius.
Questions
How many stars are in EZ Aquarii?
Three red dwarfs, bound together 11.3 light-years (3.45 pc) from the Sun.