HD 32518 explained

HD 32518 is a star with an orbiting exoplanet in the northern circumpolar constellation Camelopardalis. It has an apparent magnitude of 6.42, placing it near the limit of naked eye visibility. Located 397 light years away based on parallax measurements, it is receding with a heliocentric radial velocity of .

HD 32518 has a stellar classification of K1 III, indicating that it is an orange giant star that has evolved away from the main sequence. Located in the cool end in the red clump, the object is currently on the horizontal branch. This indicates it is generating energy by helium fusion at the core. It has 1.2 the mass of the Sun but has expanded to a radius of . It shines at 46.4 times the luminosity of the Sun from its enlarged photosphere at an effective temperature of 4,731 K, giving it an yellowish orange glow. HD 32518 is older than the Sun with an age of 6.4 billion years and spins slowly with a projected rotational velocity of 1.2 km/s−1. However, this amount is poorly constrained. As for its metallicity, studies place it around solar level.

Planetary system

In August 2009, a group of astrometers discovered a super-jovian exoplanet orbiting the giant star using doppler spectroscopy.

For the 100th anniversary of the IAU HD 32518 and the planet HD 32518b were selected NameExoWorlds campaigns for Germany. The approved name of the star HD 32518 is Mago, named after Mago National Park in Ethiopia, which is noted for its giraffes. The name was suggested by pupils of a physics course at the Max-Born-Gymnasium in Neckargemünd.

See also