Gamma Leporis
Gamma Leporis, Latinized from γ Leporis, is a star in the south central part of the constellation Lepus, southeast of Beta Leporis and southwest of Delta Leporis. With an apparent visual magnitude of 3.587, it is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 112.02 mas as seen from Earth, its distance can be estimated as 29 light years from the Sun. It has a common proper motion companion, AK Leporis, which is a variable star of the BY Draconis type. Gamma Leporis is a member of the Ursa Major Moving Group.
This is an F-type main-sequence star with a stellar classification of F6 V. It is larger than the Sun with 1.2 times the radius of the Sun and 1.3 times the Sun's mass. The star is around 1.3 billion years old and is spinning with a rotation period of about six days. Based upon its stellar characteristics and distance from Earth, Gamma Leporis was considered a high-priority target for NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder mission. It has been examined for an infrared excess, but none has been observed.
