Achernar

Achernar

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB8KKqbr7bLPW4FHsZisI67q1Rg0LPdB-YOp-LvsTCc-ncRuNHjpBMTyMzU37UXmpRUpc5lDjLeph98QmfikYOLPjgGm7EtE-ePZcyQsj0RlvyBkfrGniQL6rhOg2DYb7yrn0wIDjFfWM/s1600/achernar11.jpg

Achernar, or Alpha Eridani, is located around 144 light-years (ly) from Sun. The star constitutes the southern end of Constellation Eridanus, the River, of which it is the brightest. The stars name derives from "Al Ahir al Nahr" which is the Arabic phrase for "The End of the River," as it now marks the southern end of this great celestial river that once ended at Theta Eridani. Achernar is the ninth brightest star in Earth's night sky, beating out Betelgeuse because of its variability. However, the star lies only 32 degrees from the South Pole and so is not well known to those living in the northern hemisphere.   The star has a mass that is six to eight times greater than Sol's, 1,070 times its visual luminosity, and at least 2,900 to 5,400 times its bolometric luminosity. A fast-spinning hot star, it is also very young with no more than a few hundred million years, like Regulus A. Ejecting mass at a rate thousands of times greater than Sol, Achernar's high spin velocity of 225 to 300 kilometers per second (information taken from SolStation)

http://en.es-static.us/upl/2009/06/achernar.jpeg

Chemical Make Up: hydrogen, helium
Location: RA: 01h 37m 42.8s, Dec: -57° 14′ 12″  
Spectrum Analysis:

http://www.umop.net/spctelem.htm

Stellar Classification: Spectral class: B3p
Luminosity Class: V
Binary Star

Resources:

Achernar. (n.d.). Retrieved September 27, 2015, from http://www.solstation.com/x-objects/achernar.htm

Achernar. (n.d.). Retrieved October 1, 2015, from http://www.stellar-database.com/Scripts/search_star.exe?Name=Achernar

Stars. (n.d.). Retrieved October 1, 2015, from http://www.astronoo.com/en/stars.html