
Star profile
26 Ophiuchi
What is 26 Ophiuchi
26 Ophiuchi is a yellow-white F-type star roughly 110 light-years away in the great figure of the Serpent-Bearer, that handler of snakes who straddles the ecliptic. Its surface, a touch hotter than the Sun's, gives it a clean tone reaching magnitude 5.74 from a moderate distance. The light received tonight set out around 1916, the years in which Einstein was publishing the general theory of relativity.
Where it is and when to see it
26 Ophiuchi lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is June, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it culminates about 14° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 24° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 81° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 65° N.
It ranks no. 69 in brightness among the 88 stars of Ophiuchus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Rasalhague, the brightest: it lies about 38° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 110 years ago.
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Astronomical data for 26 Ophiuchi
- Constellation
- Ophiuchus
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.74
- Distance
- 109.9 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 255.040° · Dec -24.989°
- Catalogue
- HIP 83196 · HD 153363
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Other stars in Ophiuchus
Ophiuchus has 88 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- RasalhagueAlpha Ophiuchi2.08
- SabikEta Ophiuchi2.43
- Zeta Ophiuchi2.54
- HIP 890005.67
- 73 Ophiuchi5.71
- 14 Ophiuchi5.74
- 12 Ophiuchi5.77
- HIP 851395.77