Zeta Doradus

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NASA

Zeta Doradus is a yellowish star that is just
a little hotter, brighter, and more massive than
our Sun, Sol. (See Sloan Digital Sky Survey field
images of Zeta Doradus from WikiSky.org.)

System Summary

This star system is located about 38.0 light-years (ly) away from our Sun, Sol. It lies in the central region of (5:5:30.7-57:28:21.7, ICRS 2000.0) of Constellation Dorado, the Goldfish or Swordfish -- northwest of Beta Dor (Beta Doradus) and the Tarantula Nebula (30 Doradus and NGC 2070); southwest of Canopus (Alpha Carinae) and Beta Pictoris; southeast of Alpha Dor (Alpha Doradus); and northwest of Alpha Ret (Alpha) and Beta Reticuli. While dust has been detected at around 5 AUs out from Zeta Doradus, no substellar companion objects have been found.

The Star

Zeta Doradus is a main sequence dwarf star of spectral and luminosity type F7 V but has been classed as white as F6 and as yellow as F9 (Lagrange et al, 2009, page 14 for HD 33262; Trilling et al, 2008, page 26; NASA Stars and Exoplanet Database; and SIMBAD). The star may have around 1.22 times Sol's mass (NASA Stars and Exoplanet Database; and David F. Gray, 1992), around 1.02 +/- 0.04 times Sol's diameter (NASA Stars and Exoplanet Database; and Kenneth R. Lang, 1980); and around 1.5 times its visual and 1.38 times its theoretical bolometric luminosity (NASA Stars and Exoplanet database; and Kenneth R. Lang, 1980). It may be around 1.4 to 3.5 billion years old (Trilling et al, 2008, page 26 for HD 33262; and Ibukiyama and Arimoto, 2004, HD 33252 in page 28; and Nordstrom et al, 2004, HD 33252 in on-line data). The star may only be around 0.46 to 1.2 times as enriched as Sol with elements heavier than hydrogen ("metallicity") based on its abundance of iron (Saffe et al, 2008, page 20; Bryden et al, 2006; Ibukiyama and Arimoto, 2004, HD 33252 in page 28; NASA Stars and Exoplanet Database; and Cayrel de Strobel et al, 1991, HD 33262 in page 283). Some astronomers believe that the star is a member of the galaxy's thin disk (Ibukiyama and Arimoto, 2004, HD 33252 in page 28). Useful star catalogue numbers for the star include: Zet Dor, HR 1674, Gl 189, HIP 23693, HD 33262, CP(D)-57 735, SAO 233822, and FK 189.

The orbital distance from Zeta Doradus where an Earth-type planet currently would be "comfortable" with liquid water is centered near 1.2 AU -- between the orbital distances of Earth and Mars in the Solar System. At that distance from the star, such a planet would have an orbital period around 420 days. It would be very difficult for astronomers to detect with today's astronomical instruments and methods.

Dust

Infrared excess from dust particles at 70 micrometers in size was detected at around 5 AUs out from Zeta Doradus (Trilling et al, 2008; and Bryden et al, 2006, pp. 36 and 41 for HD 33262). No planetary or brown dwarf companions have been founded as yet (Lagrange et al, 2009).

Closest Neighbors

The following star systems are located within 10 light-years, plus more bright stars within 10 to 20 ly, of Zeta Doradus.

Star System	Spectra & Luminosity	Distance (light-years)
CD-57 1079	K7 V	<~1
BPM 17964 AB	M2 Ve ?	2.1
CP-62 780	M0 V	5.9
CD-60 1303	K3 V	6.1
GJ 1068	?p	7.2
CD-53 889	K5 V	7.4
Zeta1,2 Reticuli	G1 V G2 V	9.7
* plus bright stars *		. . .
Alpha Mensae	G5-6 V	12
CP-65 475	K1 V-IIIp	13
p Eridani 3?	K2-5 V K0-3 V ?	19

Other Information

Up-to-date technical summaries on this star can be found at: the Astronomiches Rechen-Institut at Heidelberg's ARICNS; the NASA Stars and Exoplanet Database; and SIMBAD. Additional information may be available at Roger Wilcox's Internet Stellar Database and from www.alcyone.de as Zeta Doradus. More recent research papers may become available at the SAO/NASA ADS.

Dorado, the Goldfish or Swordfish, is a large southern constellation that was named around 1600 by Johannes Bayer (1572-1625). For more information about the stars and objects in this constellation, go to Christine Kronberg's Dorado. For an illustration, see David Haworth's Dorado.

For more information about stars including spectral and luminosity class codes, go to ChView's webpage on The Stars of the Milky Way.