Groombridge 34 A is the brighter of a pair of red dwarfs in Andromeda, both flare stars, with planets found around the A star.
At a glance
| type | red dwarf (class M) |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 11.6 light-years (3.56 pc) |
| its light left it | 11.6 years ago |
| luminosity | 0.0064 × the Sun |
| radius | 0.38 × the Sun |
| surface temperature | 3,730 K |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Groombridge 34 A
This is a pair of red dwarfs orbiting each other far apart, both too faint for the naked eye. It is named after its entry in the catalogue of the English astronomer Stephen Groombridge. The A star is the larger of the two; its companion, Groombridge 34 B, is a smaller red dwarf. Both are flare stars.
Measurements of the A star’s wobble have revealed a planet a few times the mass of the Earth on a short orbit, and a larger, more distant one has been reported too.
What you see in the piece
Fly to it and you find a warm orange-red disc, its catalogued planets on their orbits; press O to draw them. In HUMAN EYE nothing marks its place in Andromeda.
Measured or modelled
The outer planet is less certain than the inner one.
Questions
How far away is Groombridge 34?
Groombridge 34 A is 11.6 light-years (3.56 pc) from the Sun.