Kruger 60 A is the brighter of a pair of red dwarfs in Cepheus whose orbit is short enough to have been followed round in photographs within a human lifetime.
At a glance
| type | red dwarf (class M) |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 13.1 light-years (4.01 pc) |
| its light left it | 13.1 years ago |
| luminosity | 0.0091 × the Sun |
| radius | 0.35 × the Sun |
| surface temperature | 3,180 K |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Kruger 60 A
Kruger 60 A is a red dwarf with a smaller red dwarf companion, the two orbiting each other close enough that their motion can be traced through a telescope in a human lifetime. Photographs taken years apart show the companion swinging around the A star, which made the pair a classic demonstration of a binary orbit and a way of weighing small stars.
The system is named after the German astronomer Adalbert Krüger. The companion, Kruger 60 B, is a flare star, known by its variable-star name DO Cephei. Neither can be seen with the naked eye.
What you see in the piece
Fly to it and you find a dull orange-red disc. In HUMAN EYE nothing shows at its place in Cepheus.
Questions
How far away is Kruger 60?
Kruger 60 A is 13.1 light-years (4.01 pc) from the Sun.