Star profile
Alnasl
Gamma 2 Sagittarii · Sagittarius
What is Alnasl
Alnasl forms the tip of Sagittarius's arrow, exactly where the archer aims at the heart of the Milky Way. Its Arabic name, «An-Naṣl», means precisely «the point», and it sits some 97 light-years away as an orange K-type giant. Pointing toward it on a dark night is to gaze toward the galactic centre: in that very direction, roughly 26,000 light-years beyond, beats Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole that anchors our entire stellar neighbourhood.
Where it is and when to see it
Alnasl 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 8° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 19° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 87° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 60° N.
It ranks no. 7 in brightness among the 117 stars of Sagittarius in our catalogue. To find it, start from Kaus Australis, the brightest: it lies about 6° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 97 years ago.
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A public signature from a real person. The chosen name is a symbolic denomination within Stelvia, with no official standing or IAU recognition: the sky is not for sale and belongs to no one.
Astronomical data for Alnasl
- Constellation
- Sagittarius
- Apparent magnitude
- 2.98
- Distance
- 96.9 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 271.452° · Dec -30.424°
- Catalogue
- HIP 88635 · HD 165135
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Other stars in Sagittarius
Sagittarius has 117 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- Kaus AustralisEpsilon Sagittarii1.79
- NunkiSigma Sagittarii2.05
- AscellaZeta Sagittarii2.60
- Kaus MediaDelta Sagittarii2.72
- Kaus BorealisLambda Sagittarii2.82
- AlbaldahPi Sagittarii2.88
- Eta Sagittarii3.10
- Phi Sagittarii3.17