Star profile

Phi Aurigae

3D likeness based on its real data · class K · ~4,200 K

What is Phi Aurigae

Phi Aurigae is an orange-red giant with a radius thirty-five times the Sun's, an aged star whose surface breathes at barely 4,227 K. At 453 light-years inside the wide Charioteer, it also forms a visual double easily caught in binoculars. Its warm tone recalls glowing coal —the colour of a star no longer fusing hydrogen the way it did in its youth.

Where it is and when to see it

Phi Aurigae 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 73° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 84° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 22° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 56° S.

It ranks no. 31 in brightness among the 76 stars of Auriga in our catalogue. To find it, start from Capella, the brightest: it lies about 12° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 450 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Phi Aurigae

Constellation: Auriga
Apparent magnitude: 5.08
Distance: 453.1 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 81.912° · Dec 34.476°
Catalogue: HIP 25541 · HD 35620

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Other stars in Auriga

Auriga has 76 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 76 stars in Auriga