Xi Octantis

Xi Octantis, Latinized from ξ Octantis, is a solitary variable star in the southern circumpolar constellation Octans. It has an apparent magnitude of about 5.3, allowing it to be faintly seen with the naked eye; however, this varies slightly. Located 514 light-years away, the object is receding with a heliocentric radial velocity of.
File:XiOctLightCurve.png|thumb|left|A light curve for Xi Octantis, plotted from TESS data
Xi Octantis has a stellar classification of B6 V, indicating that it is an ordinary B-type [main-sequence star]. Hintler et al. gives it a luminosity class IV while Houk and Cowley gives a classification intermediate between a B5 and B7 dwarf. Nevertheless, it has 4 times the mass of the Sun and is 3 times larger. It shines with a luminosity of from its photosphere at an effective temperature of, giving it a whitish blue glow. Xi Octantis is 46 million years old—64.8% through its short main-sequence lifetime—and spins modestly with a projected [rotational velocity] of.
When the Hipparcos catalogue was released in 1997, Xi Octantis was found to vary in magnitude—ranging from 5.32 to 5.36 based on data from the International Variable Star Index. It has since been classified as a slowly pulsating B-dwarf with a period of 1.78 days.