Your Guide to the Solar System and the Night Sky
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public Observing fromLocation: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt
north SunriseRise: 4:44  
clear_day Transit: 12:57  
SunsetSet: 21:11 south
wb_twilight Astronomical TwilightWhat's Visible Now
All Constellations » Virgo » 

16 Virginis

Altitude: -1.5°   Azimuth: 277.2°   Direction: West

16 Virginis is a multiple hypergiant star in the constellation of Virgo.

16 Virginis visual magnitude is 4.96. Because of its moderate brightness, 16 Virginis should be easily visible from locations with dark skyes, while it can be barely visible, or not visible at all, from skyes affected by light pollution.

The table below summarizes the key facts about 16 Virginis:

4.96
Hypergiant

16 Virginis is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.

Altitude: -1.5°
Azimuth: 277.2°
Direction: West

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of 16 Virginis

16 Virginis is situated close to the celestial equator, as such, it is at least partly visible from both hemispheres in certain times of the year. Celestial coordinates for the J2000 equinox as well as galactic coordinates of 16 Virginis are provided in the following table:

12h 20m 21s
+03° 18’ 45”
284.27°
65.05°
Virgo

The simplified sky map below shows the position of 16 Virginis in the sky:

Finder chart 16 Virginis star
Simplified finder chart for 16 Virginis.

Visibility of 16 Virginis from your location

Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London

Today's 16 Virginis rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 86.7°
Max altitude: 41.8°
Azimuth: 273.3°
16 Virginis is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom

Digitized Sky Survey image of 16 Virginis

The image below is a photograph of 16 Virginis from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2 - see the credits section) taken in the red channel. The area of sky represented in the image is 0.5x0.5 degrees (30x30 arcmins). The proper motion of 16 Virginis is -0.292 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.065 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 1000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of 16 Virginis star
DSS2 image of 16 Virginis. The red arrow shows the motion of 16 Virginis during the next 1000 years (-4.87 arcmin in Right Ascension and -1.08 arcmin in declination);

Distance of 16 Virginis from the Sun and relative movement

16 Virginis is distant 285.21 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 36 kilometers per second.

87.49 pc
285.21 ly
36 km/s
-0.292 arcsec/year
-0.065 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of 16 Virginis

16 Virginis belongs to spectral class K0 and has a luminosity class of III corresponding to a hypergiant star.

0.25
K0III
4389K

The red dot in the diagram below shows where 16 Virginis is situated in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram.

HR Diagram
H-R diagram showing the position of 16 Virginis. Attribution: Richard Powell / CC BY-SA

Alternative designations of 16 Virginis

16 Virginis
SAO119341
SAO119341