Kruger 60 A

Star

Kruger 60 A - the brighter of a pair of red dwarfs 13.1 light-years away in Cepheus, circling each other every ~45 years. No planets are confirmed.

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Key facts

Mutual orbit

44.7 Earth years

16,316 Earth days

Mass

5.39 × 10²⁹ kg

0.271 M☉

Radius

243,495 km

35% of the Sun's radius

Surface temperature

3,180 K (2,907 °C)

Luminosity

3.83 × 10²⁴ W

Spectral type

M3V (red dwarf)

Note: The motion of the pair's common centre of mass, computed as the mass-weighted mean of its stars' catalogued motions.
Proper motion: 0.904 arcseconds per year · its drift across our sky; SIMBAD — 2018yCat.1345....0G
Speed across our line of sight: 17.2 km/s; Computed from proper motion and parallax

Semi-major axis: 3.74 AU; From the visual-binary orbit (Heintz; P = 44.6 yr, a = 9.5 AU, e = 0.41)
Eccentricity: 0.41; From the visual-binary orbit (Heintz; P = 44.6 yr, a = 9.5 AU, e = 0.41)
Orbital period: 44.67 years; From the visual-binary orbit (Heintz; P = 44.6 yr, a = 9.5 AU, e = 0.41)

By mass: A red dwarf about 27% of the Sun's mass; the more massive of the pair.

Luminosity: 3.83 × 10²⁴ W · 0.01 L☉
Surface temperature: 3,180 K (2,907 °C)
Peak wavelength: 911 nm · near-infrared (mostly invisible to the eye); Computed (Wien's law) from the surface temperature

Discovered: 1890
By: Adalbert Kruger
Method: Telescope
Name: Named for the German astronomer Adalbert Kruger and its number (60) in his catalogue; also GJ 860.

Recognised as a binary by Adalbert Kruger in the 1890s; its well-measured orbit has long made it a benchmark for red-dwarf masses.

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