Star profile

Pi 2 Orionis

3D likeness based on its real data · class A · ~8,500 K

What is Pi 2 Orionis

Pi-2 Orionis belongs to Orion's Pi chain, the line of stars sketching the shield or the bow that the hunter raises against the charging Taurus. It is a blue-white main-sequence star spinning fast enough to smear its own spectral lines into broad, blurred bands—a clean spectroscopic fingerprint of rotation. Its light has been on its way for 224 years before reaching Earth tonight.

Where it is and when to see it

Pi 2 Orionis lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is December, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it culminates about 47° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 58° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 47° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 81° S.

It ranks no. 21 in brightness among the 128 stars of Orion in our catalogue. To find it, start from Rigel, the brightest: it lies about 18° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 220 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Pi 2 Orionis

Constellation: Orion
Apparent magnitude: 4.35
Distance: 224.5 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 72.653° · Dec 8.900°
Catalogue: HIP 22509 · HD 30739

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Other stars in Orion

Orion has 128 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 128 stars in Orion