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: 4:50  
clear_day Transit: 12:56  
SunsetSet: 21:02 south
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All Constellations » Cygnus » 

51 Cygni

51 Cygni is a multiple main-sequence star in the constellation of Cygnus.

51 Cygni visual magnitude is 5.39. Because of its reltive faintness, 51 Cygni 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 51 Cygni:

5.39
Main-sequence
51 Cygni is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt. Altitude: 18°.

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of 51 Cygni

51 Cygni 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 51 Cygni are provided in the following table:

20h 42m 12s
+50° 20’ 24”
88.37°
4.99°
Cygnus

The simplified sky map below shows the position of 51 Cygni in the sky:

Finder chart 51 Cygni star
Simplified finder chart for 51 Cygni.

Visibility of 51 Cygni from your location

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

51 Cygni is circumpolar and transits at 04:12 UTC (altitude: 88.9°)

Digitized Sky Survey image of 51 Cygni

The image below is a photograph of 51 Cygni 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 51 Cygni is 0.003 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and 0.005 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 100000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of 51 Cygni star
DSS2 image of 51 Cygni. The red arrow shows the motion of 51 Cygni during the next 100000 years (5.00 arcmin in Right Ascension and 8.33 arcmin in declination);

Distance of 51 Cygni from the Sun and relative movement

51 Cygni is distant 923.51 light years from the Sun and it is moving towards the Sun at the speed of 3 kilometers per second.

283.29 pc
923.51 ly
-3 km/s
0.003 arcsec/year
0.005 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of 51 Cygni

51 Cygni belongs to spectral class B2 and has a luminosity class of V corresponding to a main-sequence star.

-1.87
B2V
11573K

The red dot in the diagram below shows where 51 Cygni is situated in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram.

HR Diagram
H-R diagram showing the position of 51 Cygni. Attribution: Richard Powell / CC BY-SA

51 Cygni star system properties

51 Cygni 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 51 Cygni double sysyem:

5.39
11.39
6
3 arcsec

Alternative designations of 51 Cygni

SAO32809
SAO32809