16 Virginis is a single[9] star in the zodiac constellation of Virgo, located about 308[1] light years from the Sun. It has the Bayer designation c Virginis; 16 Virginis is the Flamsteed designation. This object is visible to the naked eye as a faint, orange-hued star with an apparent visual magnitude of 4.96.[2] This is an IAU radial velocity standard star;[10] it is moving further from the Earth with a heliocentric radial velocity of +37 km/s.[4] The star has a relatively high proper motion, traversing the celestial sphere at an angular rate of 0.301″ per year.[11]
In Chinese astronomy, 16 Virginis is called 謁者, Pinyin: Yèzhě, meaning Usher to the Court, because this star is marking itself and stand alone in Usher to the Court asterism, Supreme Palace enclosure mansion (see : Chinese constellation).[12]
This is an evolved K-type giant star with a stellar classification of K0.5 IIIb Fe−0.5,[3] where the suffix notation denotes a mild underabundance of iron in the spectrum. It is a red clump giant, which indicates is on the horizontal branch generating energy via helium fusion at its core.[13] The interferometry-measured angular diameter of this star, after correcting for limb darkening, is 1.74±0.02 mas,[14] which, at its estimated distance, equates to a physical radius of about 18 times the radius of the Sun.[6] It is about three[2] billion years old with 1.62[2] times the mass of the Sun and is radiating 132[2] times the Sun's luminosity from its enlarged photosphere at an effective temperature of 4,423 K.[2]
^ abKeenan, Philip C.; McNeil, Raymond C. (1989), "The Perkins catalog of revised MK types for the cooler stars", Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 71: 245, Bibcode:1989ApJS...71..245K, doi:10.1086/191373.
^ abLang, Kenneth R. (2006), Astrophysical formulae, Astronomy and astrophysics library, vol. 1 (3rd ed.), Birkhäuser, ISBN 3-540-29692-1. The radius (R*) is given by:
^"c Vir". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
^Eggleton, P. P.; Tokovinin, A. A. (September 2008), "A catalogue of multiplicity among bright stellar systems", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 389 (2): 869–879, arXiv:0806.2878, Bibcode:2008MNRAS.389..869E, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.13596.x, S2CID 14878976.
^Batten, A. H.; Crampton, D.; Fletcher, J. M.; Morbey, C. L. (1971), "Wavelength Standards for the Measurement of Radial Velocities", Publications of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, 13: 441, Bibcode:1971PDAO...13..441B.
^Lépine, Sébastien; Shara, Michael M. (March 2005), "A Catalog of Northern Stars with Annual Proper Motions Larger than 0.15" (LSPM-NORTH Catalog)", The Astronomical Journal, 129 (3): 1483–1522, arXiv:astro-ph/0412070, Bibcode:2005AJ....129.1483L, doi:10.1086/427854, S2CID 2603568.
^Richichi, A.; Percheron, I.; Khristoforova, M. (February 2005), "CHARM2: An updated Catalog of High Angular Resolution Measurements", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 431 (2): 773–777, Bibcode:2005A&A...431..773R, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20042039.