Eta Eridani

Eta Eridani (η Eri, η Eridani) is a star in the constellation Eridanus. It has the traditional name Azha ("the breeding place"). The word Azha is a corruption of Persian آشيانه āšiyāne The (ostrich) nest. ^[1]

In Chinese, 天苑 (Tiān Yuàn), meaning Celestial Meadows, refers to an asterism consisting of η Eridani, γ Eridani, π Eridani, δ Eridani, ε Eridani, ζ Eridani, π Ceti, τ¹ Eridani, τ² Eridani, τ³ Eridani, τ⁴ Eridani, τ⁵ Eridani τ⁶ Eridani, τ⁷ Eridani, τ⁸ Eridani and τ⁹ Eridani.^[2] Consequently, η Eridani itself is known as 天苑六 (Tiān Yuàn liù, English: the Sixth Star of Celestial Meadows.)^[3]

Structure

Eta Eridani belongs to spectral class K0 III^[4] and has apparent magnitude +4.1. It is 121 light years from Earth.

Coordinates for J2000:

• Right ascension: 2^h 56^m 25.70^s
• Declination: −08° 53′ 53.0″

References

1. Star Name - R.H. Allen p.218
2. (Chinese) 中國星座神話, written by 陳久金. Published by 台灣書房出版有限公司, 2005, ISBN 978-986-7332-25-7.
3. (Chinese) 香港太空館 - 研究資源 - 亮星中英對照表, Hong Kong Space Museum. Accessed on line November 23, 2010.
4. Houk, N.; Swift, C. (1999). "Michigan catalogue of two-dimensional spectral types for the HD Stars, Vol. 5". Michigan Spectral Survey 05: 0. Bibcode:1999MSS...C05....0H.