Kruger 60

system

Kruger 60 is a pair of red dwarfs 13.1 light-years away in Cepheus, orbiting each other every ~45 years. The fainter component, DO Cephei, is a vigorous flare star. No planets are confirmed.

Open in 3D viewSee Kruger 60 in the live, interactive 3D map

Key facts

Type

Binary red dwarfs

Distance

13.08 light-years

Confirmed planets

Science

Classification

Type: Binary red-dwarf system
Stars: Kruger 60 A (M3V, ~0.27 M☉) + B (M4V flare star, ~0.18 M☉)

Orbit

Mutual orbit: ~44.6 years, ~9.5 AU, e ≈ 0.41

Planets

Confirmed planets: None

Distance

Distance: 13.08 light-years

How we know

Note: No planets are confirmed. The ~45-year mutual orbit is well measured; the map position is symbolic. Real distance 13.08 light-years.

Discovery & history

Name: Named for the German astronomer Adalbert Kruger; also GJ 860.

Recognised as a binary by Adalbert Kruger in the 1890s; a long-standing benchmark for red-dwarf masses.

Images

Where to find it — in Cepheus, the King (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