Alpha Eridani, also known as Achernar, is the brightest star in the constellation Eridanus and the eighth-brightest star in the nighttime sky. It lies at the southern tip of the constellation. The extreme rotation speed has flattened Alpha Eridani. It is the least spherical star in the Milky Way studied to date. Alpha Eridani spins so rapidly that its equatorial diameter is more than 50% greater than its polar diameter.
In the eisode "Wolf in the Fold" of the original Star Trek series, the Redjac entity was responsible for ten women being knifed to death in the city of Heliopolis on the planet Alpha Eridani II
Alpha Eridani is located about approximately 144 light-years (44 parsecs) away from earth. Although classified as a main-sequence (dwarf) star, it is about 3,000 times more luminous than the Sun. Alpha Eridani is in the deep southern sky and never rises above 33°N - it is best seen from the southern hemisphere in November; it is circumpolar below 33°S.
The Redjac entity