Editing Octans (section)

=== Stars ===
{{see also|List of stars in Octans}}

[[Image:Constellation Octans.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The constellation Octans as it can be seen by the [[naked eye]].]]

Octans is a generally inconspicuous constellation with only one star brighter than magnitude 4; its brightest member is [[Nu Octantis]], a [[Stellar classification|spectral class]] K1&nbsp;III [[giant star]] with an [[apparent magnitude]]&nbsp;3.73. It is 63.3 ± 0.8 [[light-year]]s distant from Earth.<ref name=Gaia-DR2nu>{{cite DR2|6356375508717699584}}</ref>

[[Beta Octantis]] is the second brightest star in the constellation.

[[Sigma Octantis|Polaris Australis (Sigma Octantis)]], the southern [[pole star]], is a magnitude&nbsp;5.4 star just over 1&nbsp;degree away from the true south celestial pole. Its relative faintness means that it is not practical for navigation.{{sfn|Staal|1988|p=258}}

[[BQ Octantis]] is a fainter, magnitude 6.82 star located much closer to the South Pole (at less than a degree) than Sigma.

In addition to having the current southern pole star of Earth, Octans also contains the southern pole star of the planet [[Saturn]], which is the magnitude&nbsp;4.3 [[Delta Octantis]].

The [[Astronomical Society of Southern Africa]] in 2003 reported that observations of the [[Mira variable]] stars [[R Octantis|R]] and [[T Octantis]] were urgently needed.<ref name=cooper>{{cite journal|last=Cooper|first=Tim|date=2003|title=Presidential address: Amateur Observations – Successes and Opportunities|journal=Monthly Notes of the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa|volume=62|pages=234–240|bibcode=2003MNSSA..62..234C}}</ref>

Four star systems are known to have planets. [[Mu2 Octantis|Mu<sup>2</sup> Octantis]] is a binary star system, the brighter component of which has a planet. [[Nu Octantis]] A also has a planet orbiting. [[HD 142022]] is a binary system, a component of which is a sunlike star with a massive planet with an orbital period of 1928 ± 46 days. [[HD 212301]] is a yellow-white main sequence star with a [[hot jupiter]] that completes an orbit every 2.2 days.

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