Star profile
50 Cancri
What is 50 Cancri
50 Cancri is a white A-class star set between the claws of the Crab, not far from the famous Beehive cluster. At 176 light-years its near-pure hydrogen atmosphere makes it markedly hotter than the Sun and gives it a cold, clean tone at magnitude 5.89, at the very edge of naked-eye visibility. The light arriving tonight left its surface around 1850, when the first daguerreotype photographs of stars were being taken.
Where it is and when to see it
50 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 51° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 61° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 44° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere north of 78° S.
It ranks no. 38 in brightness among the 49 stars of Cancer in our catalogue. To find it, start from Tarf, the brightest: it lies about 8° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 180 years ago.
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Astronomical data for 50 Cancri
- Constellation
- Cancer
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.89
- Distance
- 176.0 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 131.733° · Dec 12.110°
- Catalogue
- HIP 43121 · HD 74873
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Other stars in Cancer
Cancer has 49 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- TarfBeta Cancri3.53
- Asellus AustralisDelta Cancri3.94
- Iota Cancri4.03
- HIP 408665.80
- HIP 444065.85
- Omega 1 Cancri5.87
- 66 Cancri5.89
- HIP 421725.91