Star profile
51 Draco
What is 51 Draco
51 Draconis is a white A-type star 362 light-years away, suspended in the winding body of Draco that snakes between the two Bears. Its clean, bluish hue comes from an atmosphere near nine thousand degrees, hot enough to emit much of its light in blue and violet. Draco is circumpolar from European latitudes —it never sets, instead wheeling endlessly around the celestial north pole.
Where it is and when to see it
51 Draco lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is August, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it never sets and culminates about 88° up.
- From New York it never sets and culminates about 77° up.
- From Sydney it culminates about 3° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere north of 37° S.
It ranks no. 67 in brightness among the 122 stars of Draco in our catalogue. To find it, start from Eltanin, the brightest: it lies about 11° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 360 years ago.
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Astronomical data for 51 Draco
- Constellation
- Draco
- Apparent magnitude
- 5.40
- Distance
- 362.4 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 286.230° · Dec 53.397°
- Catalogue
- HIP 93713 · HD 178207
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Other stars in Draco
Draco has 122 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- EltaninGamma Draco2.24
- AthebyneEta Draco2.73
- RastabanBeta Draco2.79
- 75 Draco5.38
- HIP 910135.38
- HIP 932995.39
- 66 Draco5.40
- Tianyi5.43