Star profile
Upsilon Orionis
Hot blue starWhat is Upsilon Orionis
Upsilon Orionis is a blue giant nearly three thousand light-years away, one of the most distant stars in Orion still visible to the naked eye. Its B-type spectrum conceals a surface so hot that the light reaching us departed when the great empires of central Asia were beginning to rise. It belongs to the Orion stellar association, a brotherhood of young giants born from the same nursery.
Where it is and when to see it
Upsilon Orionis lies in the southern 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 31° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 42° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 63° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 83° N.
It ranks no. 32 in brightness among the 128 stars of Orion in our catalogue. To find it, start from Rigel, the brightest: it lies about 4° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 2,900 years ago.
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Astronomical data for Upsilon Orionis
- Constellation
- Orion
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.62
- Distance
- 2861.4 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 82.983° · Dec -7.302°
- Catalogue
- HIP 25923 · HD 36512
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Other stars in Orion
Orion has 128 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- RigelBeta Orionis0.18
- BetelgeuseAlpha Orionis0.45
- BellatrixGamma Orionis1.64
- HIP 284134.53
- 42 Orionis4.58
- Psi 2 Orionis4.59
- Pi 1 Orionis4.64
- Chi 2 Orionis4.64