HD 160342

HD 160342 is the Henry Draper Catalogue designation for a star in the southern constellation of Ara. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 6.35 and, based upon parallax measurements, is approximately 1,200 light-years (370 parsecs) distant from Earth. This is an evolved red giant that is on the asymptotic giant branch, with a stellar classification of M3 III. It is a periodic variable star that changes in brightness by 0.1127 magnitudes at the rate of 0.37943 cycles per day, or once every 2.6 days.