Star profile
16 Serpens
What is 16 Serpens
16 Serpentis lodges among the coils of the Serpent, about 231 light-years away. K-type, orange and slightly cooler than the Sun, it glows with the warm light that marks ripe giants. The kind of star a sky-hunter notices once —and then returns to seek, month after month, among the celestial reptile's folds.
Where it is and when to see it
16 Serpens lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is May, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it culminates about 49° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 59° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 46° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere north of 80° S.
It ranks no. 26 in brightness among the 65 stars of Serpens in our catalogue. To find it, start from Unukalhai, the brightest: it lies about 4° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 230 years ago.
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Astronomical data for 16 Serpens
- Constellation
- Serpens
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.26
- Distance
- 231.2 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 234.123° · Dec 10.010°
- Catalogue
- HIP 76425 · HD 139195
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Other stars in Serpens
Serpens has 65 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- UnukalhaiAlpha Serpens2.63
- Eta Serpens3.23
- Mu Serpens3.54
- Tau 1 Serpens5.16
- 59 Serpens5.20
- Omega Serpens5.21
- 3 Serpens5.32
- Chi Serpens5.34