Gamma Piscium (γ Piscium) is a star approximately 135 light years away from Earth in the zodiacconstellation of Pisces. It is a yellow star with a spectral type of G8 III, meaning it has a surface temperature of 4,833 K and is a giant star. It is slightly cooler than the Sun, yet it is 11[4] solar radii in size and shines with the light of 63 Suns.[4] The star is a member of the red clump, which means it is undergoing core helium fusion.[9] At an apparent magnitude of 3.7,[2] it is the second brightest star in the constellation Pisces, between Eta and Alpha.
Gamma Piscium moves across the sky at three-quarters of an arcsecond per year, which at 135 light years corresponds to 153 kilometers per second.[citation needed] This suggests it is a visitor from another part of the Milky Way Galaxy; in astronomical terms, it will quickly leave the vicinity of the Sun. Its metallicity is only one-fourth that of the Sun, and visitors from outside the thin disk that composes the Milky Way tend to be metal-poor. Gamma Piscium is part of the asterism known as the "circlet of Pisces."[10]
^ abcdCousins, A. W. J. (1984), "Standardization of Broadband Photometry of Equatorial Standards", South African Astronomical Observatory Circulars, 8: 59, Bibcode:1984SAAOC...8...59C
^Wielen, R.; et al. (1999), "Sixth Catalogue of Fundamental Stars (FK6). Part I. Basic fundamental stars with direct solutions", Veroeffentlichungen des Astronomischen Rechen-Instituts Heidelberg, 35 (35), Astronomisches Rechen-Institut Heidelberg: 1, Bibcode:1999VeARI..35....1W