Magnitude 3.024 Apparent magnitude (V) 3.024 | Constellation Corvus | |
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Similar Gamma Corvi, Delta Corvi, Alpha Crateris, Theta Centauri, Delta Sagittarii | ||
Epsilon Corvi (ε Crv, ε Corvi) is a star in the southern constellation of Corvus. It has the traditional name Minkar, from Arabic المنخر al-mánxar meaning "the nostril of the crow" The apparent visual magnitude is +3.0 and it is located at a distance of 318 light-years (97 parsecs) from Earth.
In Chinese, 軫宿 (Zhěn Sù), meaning Chariot (asterism), refers to an asterism consisting of ε Corvi, γ Corvi, δ Corvi and β Corvi. Consequently, ε Corvi itself is known as 軫宿二 (Zhěn Sù èr, English: the Second Star of Chariot.).
Epsilon Corvi is a red giant with a stellar classification of K2 III, having consumed the hydrogen at its core and evolved away from the main sequence. It has about three times the Sun's mass. The interferometry-measured angular diameter of this star is about 4.99 mas, which, at its estimated distance, equates to a physical radius of about 52 times the radius of the Sun. The effective temperature of the outer envelope is 7003432000000000000♠4320 K, giving it an orange hue that is characteristic of a K-type star. Around 4 times as massive as the Sun, it spent much of its life as a main sequence star of spectral type B5V.