Omicron 2 Eridani B

Ownership: UCP
System: Omicron 2 Eridani
Spectral class: DA4
Absolute magnitude: 11.01
Surface temperature: 13,000 K
Diameter: 17,000 mi.

A white dwarf companion of 40 Eridani A in the 40 Eridani system, also known as Omicron 2 Eridani B.

The enormous density of 40 Eridani B is typical of a white dwarf. The stellar material of 40 Eridani B is 90,000 times denser than water; a cubic inch of it weighs 2 tons, and the surface gravity of the star is 37,000 times the Class M planetary standard.

Orbit

40 Eridani B and C orbit each other every 248 years, at an average distance from each other of 44 AU. In turn, 40 Eridani B and C together orbit 40 Eridani A, situated 400 AU away, completing an orbit every 8000 or so years.

History

Omicron2 Eridani B, as a white dwarf, must have been a red giant at some point in the past. It is uncertain whether or not Omicron2 Eridani B would have fatally disrupted any life that might have developed around planets orbiting A.