42 Aurigae

42 Aurigae is a hypergiant star in the constellation of Auriga.

42 Aurigae visual magnitude is 6.52. Because of its reltive faintness, 42 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 42 Aurigae:

Color of 42 Aurigae ⬤

Magnitude of 42 Aurigae 6.52

Class Hypergiant

VISIBILITY RIGHT NOW 42 Aurigae is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]. Altitude: 78°.

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of 42 Aurigae

42 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 42 Aurigae are provided in the following table:

Right Ascension J2000 06h 17m 34s

Declination J2000 +46° 25’ 27”

Galactic Longitude 167.55°

Galactic Latitude 13.89°

Constellation Auriga

The simplified sky map below shows the position of 42 Aurigae in the sky:

Simplified finder chart for 42 Aurigae.

Visibility of 42 Aurigae from your location

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

42 Aurigae is circumpolar and transits at 18:21 UTC (altitude: 84.9°)

Digitized Sky Survey image of 42 Aurigae

The image below is a photograph of 42 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 42 Aurigae is -0.043 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and 0.019 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 10000 years is represented with the red arrow.

DSS2 image of 42 Aurigae. The red arrow shows the motion of 42 Aurigae during the next 10000 years (-7.17 arcmin in Right Ascension and 3.17 arcmin in declination);

Distance of 42 Aurigae from the Sun and relative movement

42 Aurigae is distant 235.21 light years from the Sun and it is moving towards the Sun at the speed of 8 kilometers per second.

Distance (parsec) 72.15 pc

Distance (light year) 235.21 ly

Heliocentric radial velocity -8 km/s

Proper Motion RA -0.043 arcsec/year

Proper Motion Dec 0.019 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of 42 Aurigae

42 Aurigae belongs to spectral class F0 and has a luminosity class of V corresponding to a hypergiant star.

Absolute magnitude 2.23

Spectral Type F0V

Color Index (B-V) 0.27

Temperature of 42 Aurigae 7658K

The red dot in the diagram below shows where 42 Aurigae is situated in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram.

H-R diagram showing the position of 42 Aurigae. Attribution: Richard Powell / CC BY-SA

Alternative designations of 42 Aurigae

Flamsteed designation 42 Aurigae

Henry Draper Catalogue HD43244

SAO Catalogue SAO40999

Hipparcos Catalogue HIP29884

Durchmusterung Catalogue BD+46 1122

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Other stars in Auriga