Achernar
Blue-white main-sequence star · Alpha Eridani
Flattest known star (extreme oblateness)
Marking the southern end of the river Eridanus, Achernar spins so fast that it is squashed into a markedly oblate shape, making it one of the least spherical stars known.
Illustration generated from temperature, not a photograph
6.7 ☉
mass (the Sun = 1)
1,076 ×
as bright as the Sun
15,000 K
surface · blue-white star
7 R☉
radius (the Sun = 1)
140 ly
from Earth
0.5
apparent magnitude
Visible to the naked eyeno equipment needed · apparent magnitude 0.5
It pours out about 1,076 times the Sun’s light. Its light has been travelling 140 years to reach us, so you see Achernar as it was 140 years ago.
Source · Wikidata
It lives in
Milky Way
Barred spiral galaxy.
Other notable stars in the Milky Way
Eta CarinaeLuminous blue variableAlnilamBlue supergiantVY Canis MajorisRed hypergiantAlnitakHot blue supergiantDenebBlue-white supergiantMintakaHot blue giant multiple star
Stars of similar brightness
AlphardOrange giant971 ×PolarisYellow supergiant Cepheid variable1,259 ×AlbireoOrange bright giant1,259 ×AldebaranOrange giant439 ×RegulusBlue-white main-sequence star341 ×ArcturusOrange giant215 ×
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→