HD 128429 is a binary star[3] system located at a distance of 88[1]light years from the Sun in the southern zodiacconstellation of Libra. It has a yellow-white hue and is just barely visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 6.20.[5] The system is drifting closer to the Sun with a radial velocity of −66 km/s[5] and has a high proper motion, traversing the celestial sphere at the rate of 0.945″ per year.[9] It is a well-known high velocity star[10] system with a net heliocentric velocity of 158.8 km/s. The system is orbiting the through the galaxy with a high eccentricity of 0.62, which carries it from as close as 4.1 out to 17.5 kpc away from the Galactic Center.[5]
The visible member of this system, designated component Aa, has a stellar classification of F6V.[4] Superficially, it resembles 2–3[7] billion year old F-type main-sequence star that is generating energy through corehydrogen fusion. However, the star displays anomalies that are a challenge to explain through the normal star formation process. The first is the high velocity orbit of the star through the Milky Way, which would be very difficult for a young population I star to accomplish. The second is an abnormally low iron-to-magnesium [Fe/Mg] abundance ratio. This strongly suggests it is an ancient population II star that was formed during the early starburst phase of the galaxy about 12 billion years ago – a period when high levels of magnesium was released during supernovae explosions of massive stars. Both anomalies can be explained by a mass transfer that converted a much older star into a blue straggler.[3]
Evidence suggests that the companion, Ab, is a white dwarf star that evolved from an F- or G-type main-sequence star with a similar mass to the current primary. As component Ab became a red giant, it overflowed its Roche lobe and mass transfer took place. The white dwarf now has less than half the mass of the Sun, having transferred a substantial fraction of its mass to the current primary. The interaction would have circularized the orbit of the pair.[3]
^Luyten, Willem J. (1979), LHS catalogue. A catalogue of stars with proper motions exceeding 0″.5 annually (2nd ed.), Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, Bibcode:1979lccs.book.....L.
^Heck, A. (June 1978), "Absolute luminosity calibration of F stars", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 66: 335–342, Bibcode:1978A&A....66..335H.