Upsilon2 Eridani (υ² Eridani, abbreviated Upsilon2 Eri, υ2 Eri), officially named Theemin,[1] [2] is a star in the constellation of Eridanus. It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 3.8. Based upon parallax measurements obtained during the Hipparcos mission, it is approximately 66 parsecs (214 light-years) from the Sun.
It is an evolved red clump giant star with a stellar classification of G8+ III. The measured angular diameter is 2.21 mas. At the star's distance, this yields a physical size of around 16 times the radius of the Sun. It radiates 138 times the solar luminosity from its outer atmosphere at an effective temperature of 5074 K.
υ2 Eridani (Latinised to Upsilon2 Eridani) is the star's Bayer designation.
It bore the traditional name Theemin (also written as Theemim and Beemin). In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN)[3] to catalogue and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN approved the name Theemin for this star on February 1, 2017, and it is now included in the List of IAU-approved Star Names.[2]
In the Almagest, Ptolemy called it hē kampē, "the bend in the river;" Arab writers corrupted this to bhmn, later becoming beemin, beemun in the West. Subsequently, its etymology was incorrectly derived from Hebrew תאומים (te'omim), meaning "twins," producing Theemin.[4] [5]
In Chinese, Chinese: 天園 (Chinese: Tiān Yuán), meaning Celestial Orchard, refers to an asterism consisting of Upsilon2 Eridani, Chi Eridani, Phi Eridani, Kappa Eridani, HD 16754, HD 23319, Theta Eridani, HD 24072, HD 24160, Upsilon4 Eridani, Upsilon3 Eridani and Upsilon1 Eridani.[6] Consequently, the Chinese name for Upsilon2 Eridani itself is Chinese: 天園十二 (Chinese: Tiān Yuán shíèr, English: the Twelfth Star of Celestial Orchard).[7]