Your guide to the Solar System and the night sky
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🌎  Observing from: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
🌅 Sunrise: 5:52  ☀️ Transit: 12:04  🌅 Sunset: 18:18

26 Aurigae

26 Aurigae is a variable and multiple giant star in the constellation of Auriga.

26 Aurigae visual magnitude is 5.4. Because of its reltive faintness, 26 Aurigae 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 26 Aurigae:

5.4
Giant
26 Aurigae is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]. Altitude: 48°.

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of 26 Aurigae

26 Aurigae is situated north of the celestial equator, as such, it is more easily visible from the northern hemisphere. Celestial coordinates for the J2000 equinox as well as galactic coordinates of 26 Aurigae are provided in the following table:

05h 38m 38s
+30° 29’ 32”
177.88°
-0.47°
Auriga

The simplified sky map below shows the position of 26 Aurigae in the sky:

Finder chart 26 Aurigae star
Simplified finder chart for 26 Aurigae.

Visibility of 26 Aurigae from your location

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

Today's 26 Aurigae rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 59.5°
Max altitude: 69.0°
Azimuth: 300.5°
26 Aurigae is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom

Digitized Sky Survey image of 26 Aurigae

The image below is a photograph of 26 Aurigae 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 26 Aurigae is -0.019 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.009 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 10000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of 26 Aurigae star
DSS2 image of 26 Aurigae. The red arrow shows the motion of 26 Aurigae during the next 10000 years (-3.17 arcmin in Right Ascension and -1.50 arcmin in declination);

Distance of 26 Aurigae from the Sun and relative movement

26 Aurigae is distant 447.19 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 2 kilometers per second.

137.17 pc
447.19 ly
2 km/s
-0.019 arcsec/year
-0.009 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of 26 Aurigae

26 Aurigae belongs to spectral class F9 and has a luminosity class of III corresponding to a giant star.

-0.29
F9III
6625K

The red dot in the diagram below shows where 26 Aurigae is situated in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram.

HR Diagram
H-R diagram showing the position of 26 Aurigae. Attribution: Richard Powell / CC BY-SA

26 Aurigae star system properties

26 Aurigae is a visual double star which can be observed only with the help of very large telescopes. The table below shows key information about the 26 Aurigae double sysyem:

5.4
5.7
0.3
0.2 arcsec

Alternative designations of 26 Aurigae

SAO58280
SAO58280