Editing Mu Arae (section)

== Stellar characteristics ==

According to measurements made by the [[Gaia (spacecraft)|Gaia]] [[astrometry|astrometric]] [[satellite]], Mu Arae exhibits a [[parallax]] of 64.0853 [[Minute of arc|milliarcsecond]]s as the Earth moves around the Sun. When combined with the known distance from the Earth to the Sun, this means the star is located at a distance of {{convert|50.89|ly|pc|lk=on|abbr=off}}.<ref name=GaiaDR3/><ref group="note">The formula for converting parallax to distance is <math>\scriptstyle\mathrm{Distance\ in\ parsecs}=\frac{1}{\mathrm{parallax\ in\ arcseconds}}</math></ref> Seen from Earth it has an [[apparent magnitude]] of +5.15 and is thus visible to the [[naked eye]].

[[Asteroseismology|Asteroseismic]] analysis of the star reveals it is approximately 10% more massive than the Sun and significantly older, at around 6.34&nbsp;billion years.<ref name="soriano2009" /> The radius of the star is 28% greater than that of the Sun and it is 90% more luminous.<ref name="Soubiran2024"/> The star contains twice the abundance of iron relative to [[hydrogen]] of the Sun and is therefore described as [[metal-rich]]. Mu Arae is also more enriched than the Sun in the element [[helium]].<ref name="soriano2009" />

Mu Arae has a listed [[stellar classification|spectral type]] of G3IV–V.<ref name=aj132_1_161/> The G3 part means the star is similar to the Sun (a G2V star). The star may be entering the [[subgiant]] stage of its evolution as it starts to run out of [[hydrogen]] in its core.{{dubious|reason=Sources for this star just call this a main sequence dwarf|Dwarf star?|date=April 2025}} This is reflected in its borderline [[luminosity class]], between IV (the subgiants) and V ([[main sequence]] [[dwarf star]]s like the Sun). This star has a low [[magnetic activity|chromospheric activity]] level and a low, non-variable [[Astrophysical X-ray source|X-ray luminosity]].<ref name="santos"/>