Kappa Doradus

Kappa Doradus, Latinized from κ Doradus, is a solitary star located in the southern constellation Dorado. It is faintly visible to the naked eye as a white-hued point of light with an apparent magnitude of 5.28. The object is located relatively close at a distance of 220 light-years based on Gaia DR3 parallax measurements and its distance from the Solar System is not changing, having a somewhat constrained heliocentric radial velocity of $$. At its current distance, Kappa Doradus' brightness is diminished by two-tenths of a magnitude due to interstellar extinction and it has an absolute magnitude of +1.15.

The object has been given many different classes. Houk & Cowley (1975) gave a class of A8/9 III/IV, indicating that it is an evolved A-type star with the characteristics of an A8 and A9 star and the blended luminosity class of a giant star and a subgiant. It has also been given a class of A8 IV and A5 III, indicating either a slightly evolved subgiant or an evolved giant star. Kappa Doradus has 1.78 times the mass of the Sun and 2.88 times the radius of the Sun. However, this is only its polar radius, as it has an equatorial bulge 26% greater than its polar radius. It radiates 26.6 times the luminosity of the Sun from its photosphere at an effective temperature of $$. Kappa Doradus is metal deficient with an iron abundance 66.1% of the Sun's or [Fe/H] = −0.18. Like many hot stars it spins rapidly, having a projected rotational velocity of $$, which causes the aforementioned oblation.

Kappa Doradus variability was first observed in 1981 by astronomer H. M. Matizen. In the paper, it is used as a comparison star for Alpha Doradus. Matizen found out that Kappa Doradus show Delta Scuti-like amplitudes of 0.03 magnitudes in the visual passband within hours. As of 2004 however, it has not been confirmed to be variable.