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: 4:46  
clear_day Transit: 12:57  
SunsetSet: 21:08 south
sunny DaytimeWhat's Visible Now
All Constellations » Aquila » 

56 Aquilae

Altitude: -35.8°   Azimuth: 52.3°   Direction: North-East

56 Aquilae is a double giant star in the constellation of Aquila.

56 Aquilae visual magnitude is 5.79. Because of its reltive faintness, 56 Aquilae 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 56 Aquilae:

5.79
Giant

56 Aquilae is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.

Altitude: -35.8°
Azimuth: 52.3°
Direction: North-East

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of 56 Aquilae

56 Aquilae 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 56 Aquilae are provided in the following table:

19h 54m 08s
-08° 34’ 27”
32.28°
-17.8°
Aquila

The simplified sky map below shows the position of 56 Aquilae in the sky:

Finder chart 56 Aquilae star
Simplified finder chart for 56 Aquilae.

Visibility of 56 Aquilae 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 56 Aquilae 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: 98.6°
Max altitude: 29.9°
Azimuth: 261.4°
56 Aquilae is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom

Digitized Sky Survey image of 56 Aquilae

The image below is a photograph of 56 Aquilae 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 56 Aquilae is 0.005 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.018 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 10000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of 56 Aquilae star
DSS2 image of 56 Aquilae. The red arrow shows the motion of 56 Aquilae during the next 10000 years (0.83 arcmin in Right Ascension and -3.00 arcmin in declination);

Distance of 56 Aquilae from the Sun and relative movement

56 Aquilae is distant 394.20 light years from the Sun and it is moving towards the Sun at the speed of 50 kilometers per second.

120.92 pc
394.20 ly
-50 km/s
0.005 arcsec/year
-0.018 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of 56 Aquilae

56 Aquilae belongs to spectral class K5

0.38
K5
3594K

The red dot in the diagram below shows where 56 Aquilae is situated in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram.

HR Diagram
H-R diagram showing the position of 56 Aquilae. Attribution: Richard Powell / CC BY-SA

56 Aquilae star system properties

56 Aquilae 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 56 Aquilae double sysyem:

5.79
11.89
6.1
46.5 arcsec

Alternative designations of 56 Aquilae

SAO143894
SAO143894