Lacaille 8760, also called AX Microscopii, is one of the brightest red dwarfs in the sky, at the very limit of naked-eye visibility in Microscopium.
At a glance
| type | red dwarf (class M) |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 12.9 light-years (3.97 pc) |
| its light left it | 12.9 years ago |
| luminosity | 0.0298 × the Sun |
| radius | 0.51 × the Sun |
| surface temperature | 3,800 K |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Lacaille 8760
Lacaille 8760 is a red dwarf, larger and brighter than most of the cool stars near the Sun. It is listed in the southern catalogue of Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille. Under exceptionally dark skies a sharp-eyed observer can just glimpse it, which makes it one of very few red dwarfs that can be seen at all without optical help.
It is a flare star, as its variable-star name, AX Microscopii, indicates, though its outbursts are rare and mild compared with those of the smaller red dwarfs. No planets have been confirmed around it.
What you see in the piece
Fly to it and you find a warm orange-red disc, large for a red dwarf. In HUMAN EYE it sits right at the eye’s threshold, the rare red dwarf that is almost a naked-eye star.
Questions
Can you see Lacaille 8760 with the naked eye?
Barely, under very dark skies. Its luminosity is 0.0298 × the Sun, and it is 12.9 light-years (3.97 pc) away.