Iota Apodis is a binary star[3] system in the southern circumpolar constellation of Apus. Its identifier is a Bayer designation that is Latinized from ι Apodis, and abbreviated Iot Aps or ι Aps, respectively. This system is a faint target at an apparent visual magnitude of 5.41,[2] but still visible to the naked eye from suitably dark skies. The distance to this star can be gauged from parallax measurements, yielding an estimate of 1,020 light-years (310 parsecs) with a 6% margin of error.[1] The system is drifting closer with a heliocentric radial velocity of −4.3 km/s.[4]
The dual nature of this system was announced by W. S. Finsen in 1960, who reported an angular separation of 0.104 arcseconds.[7] Their orbit has an angular separation of 0.091 arcseconds[3] with an estimated orbital period of 59.32 years and an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.17.[5] Both stars are B-type main sequence stars, which indicates they shine with a blue-white hue.[8] The brighter component has a stellar classification of B9 V and an apparent magnitude 5.90, while the second member is a B9.5 V star with a magnitude of 6.46. They are about 3.89 and 3.45 times as massive as the Sun, respectively.[5]
In Chinese caused by adaptation of the European southern hemisphere constellations into the Chinese system, 異雀 (Yì Què), meaning Exotic Bird, refers to an asterism consisting of ι Apodis, ζ Apodis, β Apodis, γ Apodis, δ Octantis, δ1 Apodis, η Apodis, α Apodis and ε Apodis. Consequently, ι Apodis itself is known as 異雀二 (Yì Què èr, English: the Second Star of Exotic Bird.)[9]
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