A star of very low luminosity

The method of photometric parallax (M_V/V – I relation) has been applied to a UK Schmidt Telescope field towards the South Galactic Pole to derive a kinematically unbiased luminosity function for low mass stars. We present here the discovery of one such star, RG0050–2722, which has an absolute magnitude $$M_V \approx +19$$, and is 25±6 pc from the Sun. This is only the second star known to have $$M_V \geqslant +18$$.