EZ Aquarii

EZ Aquarii

system

EZ Aquarii is a system of three tiny red dwarfs 11.1 light-years away in Aquarius, the closest triple star to the Sun after Alpha Centauri. The brighter component is itself an unresolved pair orbiting every 3.8 days; a third star circles that pair every 2.3 years. All are flare stars. No planets are confirmed.

Open in 3D viewSee EZ Aquarii in the live, interactive 3D map

Key facts

Type
Triple red dwarfs
Distance
11.11 light-years
Confirmed planets
0

Science

Classification

Type
Triple red-dwarf system (flare stars)
Stars
An inner spectroscopic pair (~0.21 M☉) + an outer red dwarf (~0.11 M☉)

Orbit

Structure
Inner pair P = 3.8 days; outer star P = 2.3 years, e = 0.44

Planets

Confirmed planets
None

Distance

Distance
11.11 light-years

How we know

Note
No planets are confirmed. The inner pair is a spectroscopic binary too close to resolve and is drawn as a single point; the outer orbit is the measured 2.3-year one. The map position is symbolic; the real distance is 11.11 light-years.

Discovery & history

Name
Named for its flare-star designation EZ Aquarii; also Luyten 789-6 and GJ 866.

Catalogued by Willem Luyten and resolved into a triple by X. Delfosse and colleagues in 1999, who measured each tiny mass to ~2%.

Images

Where to find it — in Aquarius, the Water-Bearer (IAU constellation chart). To the eye it is a single point of light; no telescope has imaged its surface.
IAU / Sky & Telescope, R. Sinnott & R. Fienberg (CC BY 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons

Images from open archives · credit shown per image