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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
SunriseRise: 6:04  
clear_day Transit: 12:06  
SunsetSet: 18:09
sunny DaytimeWhat's Visible Now?
All Constellations » Cancer » 

53 Cancri

Altitude: -4.4°   Azimuth: 329.2°   Direction: North-North-West

53 Cancri is a variable and double giant star in the constellation of Cancer.

53 Cancri visual magnitude is 6.23. Because of its reltive faintness, 53 Cancri should be visible only from locations with dark skies, while it is not visible at all from skies affected by light pollution.

The proper motion of 53 Cancri is -0.017 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.004 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 10000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of 53 Cancri star
DSS2 image of 53 Cancri. The red arrow shows the motion of 53 Cancri during the next 10000 years (-2.83 arcmin in Right Ascension and -0.67 arcmin in declination);

Key facts about 53 Cancri

6.23
Giant

53 Cancri is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.

Altitude: -4.4°
Azimuth: 329.2°
Direction: North-North-West

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of 53 Cancri

53 Cancri 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 53 Cancri are provided in the following table:

08h 52m 28s
+28° 15’ 33”
196.87°
37.66°
Cancer

The simplified sky map below shows the position of 53 Cancri in the sky:

Finder chart 53 Cancri star
Simplified finder chart for 53 Cancri.

Visibility of 53 Cancri 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 53 Cancri 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: 61.7°
Max altitude: 66.8°
Azimuth: 298.3°

Distance of 53 Cancri from the Sun and relative movement

53 Cancri is distant 885.87 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 11 kilometers per second.

271.74 pc
885.87 ly
11 km/s
-0.017 arcsec/year
-0.004 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of 53 Cancri

53 Cancri belongs to spectral class M3 and has a luminosity class of III corresponding to a giant star.

-0.94
M3III
3622K

The red dot in the diagram below shows where 53 Cancri is situated in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram.

HR Diagram
H-R diagram showing the position of 53 Cancri. Attribution: Richard Powell / CC BY-SA

53 Cancri star system properties

53 Cancri is a visual double star which can be observed with binoculars or small telescopes. The table below shows key information about the 53 Cancri double sysyem:

6.23
9.73
3.5
43.1 arcsec

Alternative designations of 53 Cancri

SAO80476
SAO80476