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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
north SunriseRise: 7:47  
clear_day Transit: 11:49  
SunsetSet: 15:50 south
sleep NighttimeWhat's Visible Now?
All Constellations » Eridanus » 

56 Eridani

Altitude: -2.4°   Azimuth: 100.7°   Direction: East

56 Eridani is a variable main-sequence star in the constellation of Eridanus.

56 Eridani visual magnitude is 5.9. Because of its reltive faintness, 56 Eridani 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 Eridani:

5.9
Main-sequence

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

Altitude: -2.4°
Azimuth: 100.7°
Direction: East

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of 56 Eridani

56 Eridani 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 Eridani are provided in the following table:

04h 44m 05s
-08° 30’ 12”
205.72°
-32.12°
Eridanus

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

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

Visibility of 56 Eridani 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 Eridani 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: 98.5°
Max altitude: 30.0°
Azimuth: 261.5°

Digitized Sky Survey image of 56 Eridani

The image below is a photograph of 56 Eridani 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 Eridani is 0.003 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.002 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 100000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of 56 Eridani star
DSS2 image of 56 Eridani. The red arrow shows the motion of 56 Eridani during the next 100000 years (5.00 arcmin in Right Ascension and -3.33 arcmin in declination);

Distance of 56 Eridani from the Sun and relative movement

56 Eridani is distant 1,341.56 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 15 kilometers per second.

411.52 pc
1,341.56 ly
15 km/s
0.003 arcsec/year
-0.002 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of 56 Eridani

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

-2.17
B2V
11744K

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

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

Alternative designations of 56 Eridani

SAO131451
SAO131451