Star profile

9 Draco

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

What is 9 Draco

9 Draconis is a remote orange giant, 625 light-years away, coiled along the long body of the Dragon that winds between the two Bears. Spotting it means tracing one of the largest constellations of the northern sky, one of the original forty-eight catalogued by Ptolemy in the second century. Its light set out in the mid-fourteenth century, while the Black Death advanced across Europe. It still travels, indifferent.

Where it is and when to see it

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

From London it never sets and culminates about 75° up.
From New York it never sets and culminates about 64° up.
From Sydney it never rises above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 23° S.

It ranks no. 61 in brightness among the 122 stars of Draco in our catalogue. To find it, start from Eltanin, the brightest: it lies about 38° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 620 years ago.

Find it on the sky map

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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 9 Draco

Constellation: Draco
Apparent magnitude: 5.37
Distance: 624.9 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 194.980° · Dec 66.597°
Catalogue: HIP 63432 · HD 113092

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

Other stars in Draco

Draco has 122 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 122 stars in Draco