Zeta1 Reticuli, Zeta2 Reticuli

Zeta Reticuli is a wide binary star system located in the constellation Reticulum, the Net. With components of magnitude 5.24 and 5.54 separated by 310", it is visible to the unaided eye a close pair of separate stars under very dark skies; but because of its southerly location, it is not visible north of the tropics.

Properties

The ζ Ret system is located about 39 light years from Earth. Its components, designated ζ1 Ret and ζ2 Ret, are both yellow main sequence stars remarkably similar to our Sun. The spectral class of ζ1 Ret is G2.5 V; it is slightly less massive (0.93 solar masses) and luminous (0.79 suns) than the Sun. ζ2 Reticuli has a very similar mass (0.99 solar masses) and luminosity (0.99 suns) to our Sun, and is spectral type G1 V.

Both stars are thought to be galactic disk stars, but only 60% as enriched with metals as the Sun, and thus considerably older - perhaps as old as 8 billion years. Both stars belong to the Zeta Herculis moving group, and share similar proper motions, confirming that they indeed form a wide binary pair. The stars are approximately 9000 AU apart, and revolve around each other once every million years.

Possible Planets

In 1996, astronomers reported indications of a giant planet with 27% of Jupiter's mass, moving around ζ2 Ret in a close (0.14 AU) orbit with a period of 18.9 days. Within two days, however, the discovery announcement was retracted, because the detected radial velocity variations could be attributed to the aging star's pulsations. Since then, no close-in giant planets have been detected around either of the components, making Earth-like terrestrial planets possible. However, small, terrestrial planets around metal-poor stars are less likely, according to current theory.

UFOs and Aliens

The Zeta Reticuli system has gained some notoriety in ufology: some ufologists allege that Zeta Reticuli is home to an alien civilization they refer to as the Greys. This is based on the alleged 1961 abduction of Betty and Barney Hill. In 1964, under hypnosis, Betty Hill drew a map she claimed she was shown during the abduction, showing the aliens' home star, the Sun, and 14 other stars. Astronomer Marjorie Fish constructed a 3-dimensional map of nearby sun-like stars and claimed a good match from the perspective of Zeta Reticuli. There were also three stars on the map that were previously unknown to astronomers until 1969. The fit of the Hill/Fish star maps was debated in the December 1974 edition of Astronomy Magazine. In his 1980 television series "Cosmos", Carl Sagan debunked the map, noting that random chance would produce at least one similarly good match to the map somewhere in the star catalog Fish used in her analysis.

In an interview with George Knapp for a television documentary, Bob Lazar, the man who first claimed that Area 51 was a secret UFO research facility, suggested that the UFO that he claimed to have helped reverse-engineer may have come from the vicinity of Zeta Reticuli, or that this information may have been given to him in an attempt to misguide him. In 2005, several ufology forums claimed that a planet in the Zeta Reticuli system was the site of an alleged United States military project named Project Serpo.

[Adapted from STARS by Jim Kaler, Professor Emeritus of Astronomy, University of Illinois]