Zeta Serpentis, Latinized from ζ Serpentis, is the Bayer designation for a single, yellow-white hued star in the equatorial constellation of

Serpens Serpens ( grc, , , the Serpent) is a constellation in the northern celestial hemisphere. One of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, it remains one of the 88 modern constellations designated by the International ...

. It is visible to the naked eye, having an

apparent visual magnitude Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the brightness of a star or other astronomical object observed from Earth. An object's apparent magnitude depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance from Earth, and any extinction of the object's lig ...

of 4.6. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 42.46

milliarcsecond A minute of arc, arcminute (arcmin), arc minute, or minute arc, denoted by the symbol , is a unit of angular measurement equal to of one degree. Since one degree is of a turn (or complete rotation), one minute of arc is of a turn. The n ...

s as measured from the Hipparcos spacecraft, it is located 77 light years from the Sun. The star is moving closer to the Sun with a radial velocity of −50.7 km/s. It will make its closest approach in about 400,000 years when it makes

perihelion An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. For example, the apsides of the Earth are called the aphelion and perihelion. General description There are two apsides in any elli ...

passage at an estimated distance of . Around 2.4 billion years old, Zeta Serpentis has a stellar classification of F2 V indicating it is an ordinary

F-type main-sequence star An F-type main-sequence star (F V) is a main-sequence, hydrogen-fusing star of spectral type F and luminosity class V. These stars have from 1.0 to 1.4 times the mass of the Sun and surface temperatures between 6,000 and 7,600 K.Tables VII ...

. This star has nearly double the radius of the Sun, 1.4 times the Sun's mass, and is radiating 6.3 times the Sun's luminosity from its outer atmosphere at an effective temperature of 6,529 K. It has a relatively high rate of spin, showing a

projected rotational velocity Stellar rotation is the angular motion of a star about its axis. The rate of rotation can be measured from the spectrum of the star, or by timing the movements of active features on the surface. The rotation of a star produces an equatorial bulg ...

of 69 km/s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zeta Serpentis F-type main-sequence stars Serpentis, Zeta Serpens (constellation) Durchmusterung objects Serpentis, 57 164259 088175 6710