The stellar classification of this star is G8IV-VFe+0.5, which suggests a slightly evolved G-type main-sequence star with a mild overabundance of iron in the spectrum. It is a BY Draconis variable with a period of 13.97 days, showing a variation of 0.03 in magnitude due to chromospheric activity.[4] The star appears overluminous for its class, which may be the result of a high metallicity.[6] The star has roughly the same mass and a slightly smaller radius as the Sun, but is radiating 74% of the Sun's luminosity.[5] It is around 2–3 billion years old and is spinning with a projected rotational velocity of 3.2 km/s.[6]
Planetary system
In 2003, S. Udry and colleagues reported the discovery of a planet in orbit around HD 73256 using data from the CORALIE spectrograph. This object is a hot Jupiter with at least 1.87 times the mass of Jupiter in an orbit with a period of 2.55 days.[6] Assuming the planet is perfectly grey with no greenhouse or tidal effects, and a Bond albedo of 0.1, the temperature would be about 1300 K. This is close to 51 Pegasi b; between the predicted temperatures of HD 189733 b and HD 209458 b (1180-1392K), before they were measured. It is a candidate for "near-infrared characterisation with the VLTI Spectro-Imager".[8]
In 2018, K. Ment and colleagues reported an attempt to confirm the existence of this planet using Keck/HIRES data, but were unable to do so despite a likelihood of success. Thus the existence of this object is disputed.[9]
In 2023, a different substellar companion on a wide orbit, likely a brown dwarf, was discovered using both radial velocity and astrometry. This study did also detect HD 73256 b, but did not update its parameters or address the dispute.[10]
