# HD 49878

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/HD_49878
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/HD_49878.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_49878
> Source revision: 1339851783
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

**HD 49878**, also named **Tonglingxing**,[1] is a single[2] [star](/source/Star) in the northern [circumpolar constellation](/source/Circumpolar_constellation) of [Camelopardalis](/source/Camelopardalis). It has an orange hue and is faintly visible to the naked eye with an [apparent visual magnitude](/source/Apparent_visual_magnitude) of +4.55.[3] The star is located at a distance of approximately 191 [light years](/source/Light_year) from the [Sun](/source/Sun), as determined from its [parallax](/source/Stellar_parallax).[4] It is drifting closer with a [radial velocity](/source/Radial_velocity) of −29.5 km/s.[5] The star has been listed as a candidate member of the [Wolf 630 moving group](/source/Wolf_630_moving_group), but is most likely a [field star](/source/Field_star).[6]

This is an aging [giant star](/source/Giant_star) with a [stellar classification](/source/Stellar_classification) of K4 III,[7] having exhausted the supply of hydrogen at its [core](/source/Stellar_core) and expanded to 19 times the [Sun's radius](/source/Sun's_radius).[8] It is roughly 5 billion years old with 1.24 times the [mass of the Sun](/source/Mass_of_the_Sun).[9] The star is radiating 94 times the [luminosity of the Sun](/source/Luminosity_of_the_Sun) from its enlarged [photosphere](/source/Photosphere) at an [effective temperature](/source/Effective_temperature) of 4,160 K.[8] It is spinning slowly with a [projected rotational velocity](/source/Projected_rotational_velocity) of 1.4 km/s.[10]

In [Chinese astronomy](/source/Chinese_astronomy), Tongling (桐陵, "[Phoenix Tree](/source/Phoenix_(plant)) Mound") is a very old star name in the [Purple Forbidden Enclosure](/source/Purple_Forbidden_Enclosure) that was identified with HD 49878. It was later named Shaowei and identified with other stars, such as [Alpha](/source/Alpha_Camelopardalis) or [Gamma Camelopardalis](/source/Gamma_Camelopardalis).[11] The [IAU Working Group on Star Names](/source/IAU_Working_Group_on_Star_Names) approved the name Tonglingxing for HD 49878 on 22 February 2026; "xing", meaning "star", is added to differentiate it from the asteroid [12418 Tongling](/source/12418_Tongling).[1]

## References

1. ["IAU Catalog of Star Names"](https://exopla.net/star-names/modern-iau-star-names/). Retrieved 22 February 2026.

1. Eggleton, P. P. & Tokovinin, A. A. (September 2008), "A catalogue of multiplicity among bright stellar systems", *Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society*. **389** (2): 869–879, [arXiv:0806.2878](https://arxiv.org/abs/0806.2878). [Bibcode:2008MNRAS.389..869E](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008MNRAS.389..869E). [doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.13596.x](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.13596.x). [S2CID 14878976](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:14878976)

1. Soubiran, C. et al. (June 2010), "The PASTEL catalogue of stellar parameters", *Astronomy and Astrophysics*. **515**: A111, [arXiv:1004.1069](https://arxiv.org/abs/1004.1069). [Bibcode:2010A&A...515A.111S](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010A%26A...515A.111S). [doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201014247](https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201014247). [S2CID 118362423](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:118362423)

1. de Bruijne, J. H. J. & Eilers, A.-C. (October 2012), "Radial velocities for the HIPPARCOS-Gaia Hundred-Thousand-Proper-Motion project", *Astronomy & Astrophysics*. **546**: 14, [arXiv:1208.3048](https://arxiv.org/abs/1208.3048). [Bibcode:2012A&A...546A..61D](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2012A%26A...546A..61D). [doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201219219](https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201219219). [S2CID 59451347](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:59451347). A61

1. McDonald, A. R. E. & Hearnshaw, J. B. (August 1983), "The Wolf 630 moving group of stars", *Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society*. **204** (3): 841–852, [Bibcode:1983MNRAS.204..841M](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1983MNRAS.204..841M). [doi:10.1093/mnras/204.3.841](https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/204.3.841)

1. Eggen, O. J. (1962), "Space-velocity vectors for 3483 stars with proper motion and radial velocity", *Royal Observatory Bulletin*. **51**: 79, [Bibcode:1962RGOB...51...79E](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1962RGOB...51...79E)

1. Dollinger, M. P. (2008), ["Hunting for extrasolar planets around K giants"](https://edoc.ub.uni-muenchen.de/9970/1/Doellinger_Michaela.pdf), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, [Bibcode:2008PhDT.......232D](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008PhDT.......232D), retrieved 2020-01-04

1. De Medeiros, J. R. et al. (November 2000), "Rotation and lithium in single giant stars", *Astronomy and Astrophysics*. **363**: 239–243, [arXiv:astro-ph/0010273](https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0010273). [Bibcode:2000A&A...363..239D](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2000A%26A...363..239D)

1. ["Tongling (桐陵)"](https://ase.exopla.net/index.php/Tongling). *All Skies Encyclopaedia*. [IAU Working Group on Star Names](/source/IAU_Working_Group_on_Star_Names). Retrieved 22 February 2026.

## External links

- [HR 2527](http://webviz.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-S?HR%202527)
- [Image HD 49878](http://aladin.u-strasbg.fr/AladinPreview?-c=07+00+04.0374%2B76+58+38.668&ident=HD++49878&submit=Aladin+previewer)

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [HD 49878](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_49878) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_49878?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.