Eta Serpentis

Eta Serpentis (η Ser, η Serpentis) is a star in the constellation Serpens. In particular, it lies in Serpens Cauda, the snake's tail. The star has an apparent visual magnitude of 3.260, making it visible to the naked eye. Parallax measurements give a distance estimate of 60.5 light-years (18.5 parsecs) from the Earth.

This star is larger than the Sun, with twice the mass and almost six times the radius. The spectrum matches a stellar classification of K0 III-IV, with the luminosity class of III-IV corresponding to an evolved star that lies between the subgiant and giant stages. The expanded outer envelope star is radiating about 19 times the luminosity of the Sun at an effective temperature of 4,890 K. At this temperature, it has an orange hue typical of a K-type star. Eta Serpentis displays solar-like oscillations with a period of 0.09 days.

Eta Serpentis was previously classified as a carbon star, which would have made it the brightest carbon star in the sky, although this classification was since found to be erroneous.