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A Complete Guide to the Solar System and the Night Sky
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public Observing fromLocation: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt
north SunriseRise: 7:47  
clear_day Transit: 11:49  
SunsetSet: 15:50 south
sunny DaytimeWhat's Visible Now?
All Constellations » Ophiuchus » 

23 Ophiuchi

Altitude: 17.2°   Azimuth: 124.7°   Direction: South-East

23 Ophiuchi is a giant star in the constellation of Ophiuchus.

23 Ophiuchi visual magnitude is 5.25. Because of its reltive faintness, 23 Ophiuchi should be visible only from locations with dark skyes, while it is not visible at all from skyes affected by light pollution.

The table below summarizes the key facts about 23 Ophiuchi:

5.25
Giant

23 Ophiuchi is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.

Altitude: 17.2°
Azimuth: 124.7°
Direction: South-East

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of 23 Ophiuchi

23 Ophiuchi 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 23 Ophiuchi are provided in the following table:

16h 54m 35s
-06° 09’ 14”
12.89°
22.52°
Ophiuchus

The simplified sky map below shows the position of 23 Ophiuchi in the sky:

Finder chart 23 Ophiuchi star
Simplified finder chart for 23 Ophiuchi.

Visibility of 23 Ophiuchi 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 23 Ophiuchi 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: 96.2°
Max altitude: 32.4°
Azimuth: 263.8°

Digitized Sky Survey image of 23 Ophiuchi

The image below is a photograph of 23 Ophiuchi 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 23 Ophiuchi is -0.031 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.02 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 10000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of 23 Ophiuchi star
DSS2 image of 23 Ophiuchi. The red arrow shows the motion of 23 Ophiuchi during the next 10000 years (-5.17 arcmin in Right Ascension and -3.33 arcmin in declination);

Distance of 23 Ophiuchi from the Sun and relative movement

23 Ophiuchi is distant 248.10 light years from the Sun and it is moving towards the Sun at the speed of 17 kilometers per second.

76.10 pc
248.10 ly
-17 km/s
-0.031 arcsec/year
-0.02 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of 23 Ophiuchi

23 Ophiuchi belongs to spectral class K2 and has a luminosity class of III corresponding to a giant star.

0.84
K2III
4559K

The red dot in the diagram below shows where 23 Ophiuchi is situated in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram.

HR Diagram
H-R diagram showing the position of 23 Ophiuchi. Attribution: Richard Powell / CC BY-SA

Alternative designations of 23 Ophiuchi

23 Ophiuchi
SAO141431
SAO141431