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: 4:44  
clear_day Transit: 12:57  
SunsetSet: 21:11 south
wb_twilight Astronomical TwilightWhat's Visible Now
All Constellations » Taurus » 

56 Tauri

Altitude: -10.3°   Azimuth: 33.5°   Direction: North-North-East

56 Tauri is a variable hypergiant star in the constellation of Taurus.

56 Tauri visual magnitude is 5.38. Because of its reltive faintness, 56 Tauri 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 Tauri:

5.38
Hypergiant

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

Altitude: -10.3°
Azimuth: 33.5°
Direction: North-North-East

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of 56 Tauri

56 Tauri 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 Tauri are provided in the following table:

04h 19m 36s
+21° 46’ 24”
174.04°
-19.83°
Taurus

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

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

Visibility of 56 Tauri 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 Tauri 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: 68.2°
Max altitude: 60.3°
Azimuth: 291.8°
56 Tauri is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom

Digitized Sky Survey image of 56 Tauri

The image below is a photograph of 56 Tauri 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 Tauri is 0.03 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.04 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 10000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of 56 Tauri star
DSS2 image of 56 Tauri. The red arrow shows the motion of 56 Tauri during the next 10000 years (5.00 arcmin in Right Ascension and -6.67 arcmin in declination);

Distance of 56 Tauri from the Sun and relative movement

56 Tauri is distant 315.89 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 12 kilometers per second.

96.90 pc
315.89 ly
12 km/s
0.03 arcsec/year
-0.04 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of 56 Tauri

56 Tauri belongs to spectral class A0 56 Tauri is also a Si chemically peculiar star.

0.45
A0
12293K

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

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

Alternative designations of 56 Tauri

SAO76551
SAO76551