Rho Fornacis (ρ For)=submit+id rho For -- Variable Star (SIMBAD) is a star of apparent magnitude +5.45 in the constellation of Fornax, the furnace. Its distance from Earth, according to stellar parallax measurements taken by the Gaia spacecraft, is 283 light-years.
Rho Fornacis is a yellow-orange giant of spectral type G6III with an effective temperature of - similar, though somewhat hotter, than β Fornacis and π Fornacis, stars also in Fornax. The radius of Rho Fornacis is over 10 larger than the solar radius but its mass is only a few percent greater than that of the Sun. Its age is estimated at between three and five billion years.
Rho Fornacis is a thick disk star, unlike most stars in our environment. Arcturus (α Boötis) and ε Fornacis, the latter in this same constellation, are examples of thick disk stars. The eccentricity of its orbit around the Galactic Center (e = 0.56) is considerably greater than that of the Sun (e = 0.16), star of the thin disk. Consequently, it shows a low metallicity—relative abundance of elements heavier than helium—, less than half that of the solar ([Fe/H] = -0.34). Elements such as aluminum, calcium and sodium are equally deficient. As in other similar stars, the oxygen/iron ratio is higher than in the Sun ([O/H] = 0.33).
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