Star profile
56 Sagittarii
What is 56 Sagittarii
56 Sagittarii is an orange giant posted 207 light-years away, in the body of the Archer, where the Milky Way swells denser than anywhere else visible from Earth. To see it is to lean toward the galactic centre: behind it, billions of suns pile into the same milky brushstroke. Its amber, even-tempered light blends into that river of stars while travelling from the age of the first locomotives.
Where it is and when to see it
56 Sagittarii lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is July, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it culminates about 19° above the horizon.
- From New York it culminates about 30° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 76° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere south of 70° N.
It ranks no. 36 in brightness among the 117 stars of Sagittarius in our catalogue. To find it, start from Kaus Australis, the brightest: it lies about 23° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 210 years ago.
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Astronomical data for 56 Sagittarii
- Constellation
- Sagittarius
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.87
- Distance
- 207.6 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 296.591° · Dec -19.761°
- Catalogue
- HIP 97290 · HD 186648
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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
- HIP 919184.86
- AinalramiNu 1 Sagittarii4.86
- Psi Sagittarii4.86
- 43 Sagittarii4.88
- 1 Sagittarii4.96