Beta Hydri

A well-known star because of its brightness, Beta Hydri is 24.4 light years away and 6.7 billion years old.  Like Delta Pavonis, it’s starting to evolve off the main sequence, having already expanded from a dwarf to a sub-giant, and on the way to red gianthood.  So it’s not a great candidate to have either a habitable planet or anything with long-term colonization prospects.  There are no known planets.

Beta Hydri has been used a lot in SF, more than some other stars that are around the same distance and better bets.  One reason may be that, as a commentator pointed out about Delta Pavonis, it’s got a name that’s easy to pronounce!