Star profile
Xi Cassiopeiae
Hot blue starWhat is Xi Cassiopeiae
ξ Cassiopeiae appears among the five stars that form Cassiopeia's W, more than 1,400 light-years away. It is a long-period spectroscopic binary —940 days— in which the visible star is a young blue main-sequence object of ten solar masses, barely 19 million years old. It spins at 139 km/s, all but forced to do so by its hot youth.
Where it is and when to see it
Xi Cassiopeiae lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is October, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it never sets and culminates about 89° up.
- From New York it never sets and culminates about 80° up.
- From Sydney it culminates about 6° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere north of 39° S.
It ranks no. 19 in brightness among the 93 stars of Cassiopeia in our catalogue. To find it, start from Cih, the brightest: it lies about 10° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 1,400 years ago.
It opens in your browser. Free, no account, nothing to install.
Leave your signature on Xi Cassiopeiae
Your name and a message go up on the map for everyone to read. Signing is free.
Without a lock, someone else can replace your signature. How the lock works
We'll ask for an email to confirm it's you, no password.
A public signature from a real person. The chosen name is a symbolic denomination within Stelvia, with no official standing or IAU recognition: the sky is not for sale and belongs to no one.
Astronomical data for Xi Cassiopeiae
- Constellation
- Cassiopeia
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.80
- Distance
- 1430.7 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 10.516° · Dec 50.513°
- Catalogue
- HIP 3300 · HD 3901
A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.
Other stars in Cassiopeia
Cassiopeia has 93 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- CihGamma Cassiopeiae2.15
- SchedarAlpha Cassiopeiae2.24
- CaphBeta Cassiopeiae2.28
- Chi Cassiopeiae4.68
- Psi Cassiopeiae4.72
- Lambda Cassiopeiae4.74
- HIP 41514.80
- Upsilon 1 Cassiopeiae4.83