6 Tauri
6 Tauri, also designated t Tauri, is a chemically peculiar star in the northern constellation of Taurus. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 5.8, so, according to the Bortle scale, it is faintly visible from suburban skies at night. Measurements made with the Gaia spacecraft show an annual parallax shift of 9.0 mas, which is equivalent to a distance of around 363 light years from the Sun.
| Observation data Epoch J2000 Equinox J2000 | |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Taurus |
| Right ascension | 03h 32m 35.943s |
| Declination | +09° 22′ 24.42″ |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 5.757 |
| Characteristics | |
| Spectral type | B9III (kB8HeB9.5V(HgMn)) |
| U−B color index | −0.29 |
| B−V color index | −0.08 |
| Astrometry | |
| Radial velocity (Rv) | +11.40 km/s |
| Proper motion (μ) | RA: +30.327 mas/yr Dec.: −48.036 mas/yr |
| Parallax (π) | 8.9915 ± 0.0866 mas |
| Distance | 363 ± 3 ly (111 ± 1 pc) |
| Details | |
| Mass | 2.8 M☉ |
| Radius | 2.5 R☉ |
| Luminosity | 79 L☉ |
| Surface gravity (log g) | 4.13 cgs |
| Temperature | 10,963 K |
| Metallicity [Fe/H] | +0.64 dex |
| Rotational velocity (v sin i) | 87.60 km/s |
| Age | 224 Myr |
| Other designations | |
| Database references | |
| SIMBAD | data |
A stellar classification of B9III matches that of a B-type giant star, but a more detailed analysis gives a type of kB8HeB9.5V(HgMn), indicating a main sequence mercury-manganese star. Mercury-manganese stars are chemically peculiar stars with a specific over-abundance of mercury and manganese absorption lines in their spectra.
6 Tauri has a mass 2.8 times that of the Sun and a radius 2.5 times the Sun's. With an effective temperature of 10,963 K, it shines with a bolometric luminosity of 79 L☉. Evolutionary models indicate that it is still on the main sequence with an age of 224 million years.