Star profile

Kang

Kappa Virginis · Virgo

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

What is Kang

Kang carries a name drawn straight from classical Chinese astronomy: Jiao, the horn, part of one of the twenty-eight lunar mansions that organised its sky. Physically it is an orange K-class giant 254 light years away, a discreet beacon at the edge of Virgo. Its light departed around 1770, when James Cook was charting the first precise coastlines of Australia.

Where it is and when to see it

Kang lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is April, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it culminates about 28° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 39° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 66° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere south of 80° N.

It ranks no. 14 in brightness among the 99 stars of Virgo in our catalogue. To find it, start from Spica, the brightest: it lies about 12° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 250 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Kang

Constellation: Virgo
Apparent magnitude: 4.18
Distance: 254.8 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 213.224° · Dec -10.274°
Catalogue: HIP 69427 · HD 124294

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Other stars in Virgo

Virgo has 99 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 99 stars in Virgo