Delta Octantis


δ Octantis, Latinised as Delta Octantis, has the distinction of being Saturn's southern pole star. An orange giant of class K2III, it has 1.2 times the mass of the Sun and about 25 times the Sun's radius. This star is about 4.3 billion years old, which is similar to the age of the Sun.

Naming

In Chinese caused by adaptation of the European southern hemisphere constellations into the Chinese system, 異雀, meaning Exotic Bird, refers to an asterism consisting of δ Octantis, ζ Apodis, ι Apodis, β Apodis, γ Apodis, δ1 Apodis, η Apodis, α Apodis and ε Apodis. Consequently, δ Octantis itself is known as 異雀五