Star profile

Nu Ophiuchi

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

What is Nu Ophiuchi

Nu Ophiuchi is an orange K-type giant about 150 light-years away, set within the vast body of the Serpent Bearer. Long-term radial-velocity surveys have uncovered substellar companions of very high mass orbiting it —drifting along the blurred frontier between giant exoplanet and brown dwarf—, making it a rare laboratory for the formation of massive worlds around aging suns.

Where it is and when to see it

Nu 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 29° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 40° 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. 9 in brightness among the 88 stars of Ophiuchus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Rasalhague, the brightest: it lies about 23° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 150 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Nu Ophiuchi

Constellation: Ophiuchus
Apparent magnitude: 3.32
Distance: 150.7 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 269.757° · Dec -9.774°
Catalogue: HIP 88048 · HD 163917

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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