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Star in the constellation Serpens
6 Serpentis is a binary star[3] system in the constellation Serpens. It has a combined apparent visual magnitude of 5.382,[2] which is bright enough to be faintly visible to the naked eye. The distance to this system, based upon an annual parallax shift of 13.63±0.73 mas,[1] is about 240 light years. It is moving further from the Sun with a heliocentric radial velocity of +10 km/s.[4]
The primary, component A, is an evolved red giant of spectral type K3III,[2] a star that has used up its core hydrogen and has expanded. At the age of around six billion years it is a red clump star,[7][9] indicating it is on the horizontal branch and is generating energy through helium fusion at its core. The star has 1.27[2] times the mass of the Sun and has expanded to 12[6] times the Sun's radius. It is radiating 55[2] times the Sun's luminosity from its enlarged photosphere at an effective temperature of 4,417 K.[2]
As of 2005, the magnitude 9.42[3] secondary, component B, was at an angular separation of 3.329″±0.017″ along a position angle of 21.8°±0.3°.[10]
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