Star profile

3 Cancri

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

What is 3 Cancri

3 Cancri glows orange within the modest constellation of the Crab, the faint zodiacal outline that hosts the Beehive Cluster. It is a K-type giant, far cooler and more swollen than the Sun, with the coppery light typical of evolved stars. It is distant —nearly 794 light-years— so the light tracing it tonight departed in the thirteenth century, while Marco Polo was still travelling the silk roads toward Cathay.

Where it is and when to see it

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

From London it culminates about 56° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 67° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 39° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 73° S.

It ranks no. 26 in brightness among the 49 stars of Cancer in our catalogue. To find it, start from Tarf, the brightest: it lies about 9° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 790 years ago.

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Astronomical data for 3 Cancri

Constellation: Cancer
Apparent magnitude: 5.60
Distance: 793.7 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 120.197° · Dec 17.309°
Catalogue: HIP 39177 · HD 65759

A symbolic commemorative gift: neither the signature nor the chosen name implies ownership of the star or recognition by the IAU.

Other stars in Cancer

Cancer has 49 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 49 stars in Cancer