Star profile
Nu Aurigae
What is Nu Aurigae
Nu Aurigae is an orange giant of spectral type K, lying about 230 light-years away in the constellation of the Charioteer. Its amber tone contrasts with the white blaze of Capella, Auriga's jewel, offering anyone with binoculars a small study in stellar colour. It long ago left the main sequence and has swollen into a star decidedly larger than the Sun.
Where it is and when to see it
Nu 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 never sets and culminates about 78° up.
- From New York it culminates about 88° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 17° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere north of 51° S.
It ranks no. 10 in brightness among the 76 stars of Auriga in our catalogue. To find it, start from Capella, the brightest: it lies about 9° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 230 years ago.
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Astronomical data for Nu Aurigae
- Constellation
- Auriga
- Apparent magnitude
- 3.97
- Distance
- 230.4 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 87.872° · Dec 39.148°
- Catalogue
- HIP 27673 · HD 39003
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Other stars in Auriga
Auriga has 76 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- CapellaAlpha Aurigae0.08
- HYG 1183600.96
- MenkalinanBeta Aurigae1.90
- HaedusEta Aurigae3.18
- SaclateniZeta Aurigae3.69
- Delta Aurigae3.72
- Pi Aurigae4.30
- Kappa Aurigae4.32