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: 6:59  
clear_day Transit: 12:48  
SunsetSet: 18:36 south
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All Constellations » Cygnus » 

56 Cygni

Altitude: 5.6°   Azimuth: 357.0°   Direction: North

56 Cygni is a double star in the constellation of Cygnus.

56 Cygni visual magnitude is 5.04. Because of its reltive faintness, 56 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 56 Cygni:

5.04

56 Cygni is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.

Altitude: 5.6°
Azimuth: 357.0°
Direction: North

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of 56 Cygni

56 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 56 Cygni are provided in the following table:

20h 50m 04s
+44° 03’ 33”
84.29°
0.03°
Cygnus

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

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

Visibility of 56 Cygni from your location

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

56 Cygni is circumpolar and transits at 20:08 UTC (altitude: 82.6°)

Digitized Sky Survey image of 56 Cygni

The image below is a photograph of 56 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 56 Cygni is 0.126 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and 0.133 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 1000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of 56 Cygni star
DSS2 image of 56 Cygni. The red arrow shows the motion of 56 Cygni during the next 1000 years (2.10 arcmin in Right Ascension and 2.22 arcmin in declination);

Distance of 56 Cygni from the Sun and relative movement

56 Cygni is distant 137.73 light years from the Sun and it is moving towards the Sun at the speed of 21 kilometers per second.

42.25 pc
137.73 ly
-21 km/s
0.126 arcsec/year
0.133 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of 56 Cygni

56 Cygni belongs to spectral class A4

1.91
A4
8163K

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

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

56 Cygni star system properties

56 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 56 Cygni double sysyem:

5.04
11.04
6
75.5 arcsec

Alternative designations of 56 Cygni

SAO50121
SAO50121