Star profile
88 Aquarii
What is 88 Aquarii
88 Aquarii is an orange giant in Aquarius, swollen to roughly twenty-eight times the Sun's radius and luminous enough that its glow travels close to 271 years before reaching us. Its atmosphere burns cooler than the Sun's —near 4,500 kelvin— which is why it vibrates with that amber hue worn by stars long past their youth. When this flicker left its surface, the eighteenth century on Earth was nearing its close.
Where it is and when to see it
88 Aquarii lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is September, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it culminates about 17° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 28° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 77° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 69° N.
It ranks no. 5 in brightness among the 99 stars of Aquarius in our catalogue. To find it, start from Sadalsuud, the brightest: it lies about 28° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 270 years ago.
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Astronomical data for 88 Aquarii
- Constellation
- Aquarius
- Apparent magnitude
- 3.68
- Distance
- 270.7 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 347.362° · Dec -21.172°
- Catalogue
- HIP 114341 · HD 218594
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Other stars in Aquarius
Aquarius has 99 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- SadalsuudBeta Aquarii2.90
- SadalmelikAlpha Aquarii2.95
- SkatDelta Aquarii3.27
- Zeta 1 Aquarii3.65
- Lambda Aquarii3.73
- AlbaliEpsilon Aquarii3.78
- SadachbiaGamma Aquarii3.86
- 98 Aquarii3.96