Wolf 424 is abinary star system comprising twored dwarf stars. The stars are located at a distance of 14.37light-years and hence are among thenearest stars, but due to their faint intrinsic brightness, they are not visible to thenaked eye. Wolf 424 is located in the constellationVirgo, between the starsε Virginis andο Virginis.
The close binary nature of this star was discovered by Dutch American astronomerDirk Reuyl in 1941, based upon an elongation of the star found in photographs.[3] The two stars in the Wolf 424 system orbit about each other with asemi-major axis of 4.1AU and aneccentricity of 0.3. The stars have anorbital period of 15.5 years and have a combined apparent magnitude of about 12.5.
Wolf 424A and Wolf 424B are similar-spectrum and similar-size stars, bothred dwarfs with masses of 0.138 and 0.126 M☉ and radii of 0.150 and 0.153 R☉, respectively.[11] In 1967, it was discovered that both areflare stars that undergo random increases in luminosity. The system has beendesignated FL Virginis, and may experience sunspot activity. The stars may undergo variation in the level of flare activity over periods lasting several years.[4]
