Iota Trianguli Australis
Encyclopedia
Iota Trianguli Australis (ι TrA, ι Trianguli Australis) is a triple star system in the constellation
Constellation
In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....

 Triangulum Australe
Triangulum Australe
Triangulum Australe is a small constellation in the southern sky, created in the sixteenth century. Its name is Latin for 'the southern triangle', which distinguishes it from Triangulum in the northern sky...

. It is approximately 132 light years
Light Years
Light Years is the seventh studio album by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue. It was released on 25 September 2000 by Parlophone and Mushroom Records. The album's style was indicative of her return to "mainstream pop dance tunes"....

 from Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...

.

The primary component, Iota Trianguli Australis A, is a spectroscopic binary with a mean apparent magnitude
Apparent magnitude
The apparent magnitude of a celestial body is a measure of its brightness as seen by an observer on Earth, adjusted to the value it would have in the absence of the atmosphere...

 of +5.28. Both components of the binary star are yellow-white F-type
Stellar classification
In astronomy, stellar classification is a classification of stars based on their spectral characteristics. The spectral class of a star is a designated class of a star describing the ionization of its chromosphere, what atomic excitations are most prominent in the light, giving an objective measure...

 stars and they have an orbital period of 39.8 days. One of the components of the binary is also classified as a Gamma Doradus type
Gamma Doradus variable
Gamma Doradus variables are variable stars which display variations in luminosity due to non-radial pulsations of their surface. The stars are typically young, early F or late A type main sequence stars, and typical brightness fluctuations are 0.1 magnitudes with periods on the order of one day...

 variable star
Variable star
A star is classified as variable if its apparent magnitude as seen from Earth changes over time, whether the changes are due to variations in the star's actual luminosity, or to variations in the amount of the star's light that is blocked from reaching Earth...

, and the binary's brightness varies by 0.12 magnitudes over a period of 1.45 days. The third component of the star system, Iota Trianguli Australis B, is a 10th magnitude star, 20 arcseconds away from the primary.
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