Rho Andromedae

Rho Andromedae, Latinized from ρ Andromedae, is the Bayer designation for a star in the northern constellation of Andromeda. It has an apparent visual magnitude of +5.19, which, according to the Bortle Dark-Sky Scale, is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye from dark suburban skies. Based upon parallax measurements, this star is at a distance of approximately 162 ly from the Sun. It is drifting further away with a radial velocity of +10 km/s.

The stellar classification of this star is F5IV-V, showing mixed spectral features of a main sequence and subgiant stage. It is about 1.3 billion years old with 3.4 times the girth of the Sun and is spinning with a projected rotational velocity of 44 km/s. The outer envelope is radiating around 18 times the luminosity of the Sun from its photosphere at an effective temperature of 6,471 K, giving it the yellow-white hue of an F-type star. X-ray emissions were detected from this star during the EXOSAT mission.

Naming
In Chinese, 天廄 (Tiān Jiù), meaning Celestial Stable, refers to an asterism consisting of ρ Andromedae, θ Andromedae and σ Andromedae. Consequently, the Chinese name for ρ Andromedae itself is 天廄二 (Tiān Jiù èr, the Second Star of Celestial Stable.)