Rho Fornacis
Rho Fornacis is a star of apparent magnitude +5.45 in the constellation of Fornax, the furnace. Its distance from Earth, according to stellar parallax measurements taken by the Gaia spacecraft, is 283 light-years.
Rho Fornacis is a yellow-orange giant of spectral type G6III with an effective temperature of - similar, though somewhat hotter, than β Fornacis and π Fornacis, stars also in Fornax. The radius of Rho Fornacis is over 10 larger than the solar radius but its mass is only a few percent greater than that of the Sun. Its age is estimated at between three and five billion years.
Rho Fornacis is a thick disk star, unlike most stars in our environment. Arcturus and ε Fornacis, the latter in this same constellation, are examples of thick disk stars. The eccentricity of its orbit around the Galactic Center is considerably greater than that of the Sun, star of the thin disk. Consequently, it shows a low metallicity—relative abundance of elements heavier than helium—, less than half that of the solar. Elements such as aluminum, calcium and sodium are equally deficient. As in other similar stars, the oxygen/iron ratio is higher than in the Sun.