Star profile

45 Ophiuchi

3D likeness based on its real data · class F · ~6,500 K

What is 45 Ophiuchi

One hundred and eleven light-years away, 45 Ophiuchi burns with the yellow-white glow of an F-type subgiant beginning to swell, shining nearly twenty times brighter than the Sun. Ophiuchus, the great serpent-bearer, carries it on his southern flank, right along the blurred border where his stars dissolve into those of Scorpius. The light reaching us tonight set out around the time the first radio antennas were being raised on Earth.

Where it is and when to see it

45 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 9° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 19° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 86° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere south of 60° N.

It ranks no. 18 in brightness among the 88 stars of Ophiuchus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Rasalhague, the brightest: it lies about 42° 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 45 Ophiuchi

Constellation: Ophiuchus
Apparent magnitude: 4.28
Distance: 111.6 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 261.839° · Dec -29.867°
Catalogue: HIP 85423 · HD 157919

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Other stars in Ophiuchus

Ophiuchus has 88 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 88 stars in Ophiuchus