Star profile
Omicron Ophiuchi
What is Omicron Ophiuchi
Omicron Ophiuchi is a visual double 281 light-years away, two stars separated by ten arcseconds that any decent telescope resolves with ease. The primary is an aged yellow giant, twelve times the Sun's radius and seventy-five times its light; the companion, cooler and smaller, glows at roughly half the magnitude. An uneven pair in the Serpent Bearer, drifting toward us at nearly thirty kilometres per second.
Where it is and when to see it
Omicron 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 25° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 80° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 66° N.
It ranks no. 43 in brightness among the 88 stars of Ophiuchus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Rasalhague, the brightest: it lies about 37° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 290 years ago.
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Astronomical data for Omicron Ophiuchi
- Constellation
- Ophiuchus
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.14
- Distance
- 294.9 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 259.503° · Dec -24.287°
- Catalogue
- HIP 84626 · HD 156349
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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 817244.91
- HIP 846715.03
- Guniibuu B5.07
- 23 Ophiuchi5.23
- Tau Ophiuchi5.24