Magnitude 3.699 Apparent magnitude (V) 3.699 | ||
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People also search for Beta Piscium, Theta Piscium | ||
Gamma Piscium (Gamma Psc, γ Piscium, γ Psc) is a star approximately 138 light years away from Earth, in the zodiac constellation of Pisces. It is a yellow star with a spectral type of G9 III, meaning it has a surface temperature of 4,885 K and is a giant star. It is slightly cooler than the Sun, yet it is 10 solar radii in size and shines with the light of 61 Suns. At an apparent magnitude of 3.7, it is the second brightest star in the constellation Pisces, between Eta and Alpha. Once a white A2 star, it is 5.5 billion years old.
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Gamma Piscium moves across the sky at three-quarters of an arcsecond per year, which at 138 light years corresponds to 153 kilometers per second. This suggests it is a visitor from another part of the Milky Way Galaxy; in astronomical terms, it will quickly leave the vicinity of the Sun. Its metallicity is only one-fourth that of the Sun, and visitors from outside the thin disk that composes the Milky Way tend to be metal-poor. It also has a low carbon-nitrogen content. Gamma Piscium lies inside an asterism known as the "circlet of Pisces."
Naming
In Chinese, 霹靂 (Pī Lì), meaning Thunderbolt, refers to an asterism consisting of refers to an asterism consisting of γ Piscium, β Piscium, θ Piscium, ι Piscium and ω Piscium. Consequently, γ Piscium itself is known as 霹靂二 (Pī Lì èr, English: the Second Star of Thunderbolt.)
In fiction
In Frank Herbert's Dune series, Gamma Waiping (The Chinese name for Pisces) is the home system of Imperial House Corrino.