Star profile
20 Cepheus
What is 20 Cepheus
20 Cephei watches the far north from the royal crown of Cepheus, the circumpolar constellation that never sets at temperate latitudes. It is an orange K-type giant, cooler and larger than the Sun, with a notable proper motion that drifts it slowly against the stellar background. At 303 light-years, its light departed in the late eighteenth century and crossed space while Europe convulsed through the French Revolution.
Where it is and when to see it
20 Cepheus lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is October, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it never sets and culminates about 79° up.
- From New York it never sets and culminates about 68° up.
- From Sydney it never rises above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere north of 27° S.
It ranks no. 38 in brightness among the 95 stars of Cepheus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Alderamin, the brightest: it lies about 5° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 300 years ago.
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Astronomical data for 20 Cepheus
- Constellation
- Cepheus
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.27
- Distance
- 303.2 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 331.252° · Dec 62.786°
- Catalogue
- HIP 109005 · HD 209960
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Other stars in Cepheus
Cepheus has 95 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- AlderaminAlpha Cepheus2.45
- ErraiGamma Cepheus3.21
- AlfirkBeta Cepheus3.23
- HIP 1095725.24
- HIP 1138645.25
- 18 Cepheus5.26
- HIP 1096935.27
- HIP 1095925.37