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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: 7:54  
clear_day Transit: 11:51  
SunsetSet: 15:49 south
sunny DaytimeWhat's Visible Now?
All Constellations » Virgo » 

73 Virginis

Altitude: -6.9°   Azimuth: 248.4°   Direction: West-South-West

73 Virginis is a variable and double hypergiant star in the constellation of Virgo.

73 Virginis visual magnitude is 6.01. Because of its reltive faintness, 73 Virginis 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 73 Virginis:

6.01
Hypergiant

73 Virginis is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.

Altitude: -6.9°
Azimuth: 248.4°
Direction: West-South-West

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of 73 Virginis

73 Virginis 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 73 Virginis are provided in the following table:

13h 32m 02s
-18° 43’ 44”
316.15°
43.1°
Virgo

The simplified sky map below shows the position of 73 Virginis in the sky:

Finder chart 73 Virginis star
Simplified finder chart for 73 Virginis.

Visibility of 73 Virginis 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 73 Virginis 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: 108.7°
Max altitude: 19.8°
Azimuth: 251.3°

Digitized Sky Survey image of 73 Virginis

The image below is a photograph of 73 Virginis 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 73 Virginis is -0.099 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.014 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 1000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of 73 Virginis star
DSS2 image of 73 Virginis. The red arrow shows the motion of 73 Virginis during the next 1000 years (-1.65 arcmin in Right Ascension and -0.23 arcmin in declination);

Distance of 73 Virginis from the Sun and relative movement

73 Virginis is distant 233.86 light years from the Sun and it is moving towards the Sun at the speed of 18 kilometers per second.

71.74 pc
233.86 ly
-18 km/s
-0.099 arcsec/year
-0.014 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of 73 Virginis

73 Virginis belongs to spectral class F0 and has a luminosity class of IV corresponding to a hypergiant star.

1.73
F0IV
8321K

The red dot in the diagram below shows where 73 Virginis is situated in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram.

HR Diagram
H-R diagram showing the position of 73 Virginis. Attribution: Richard Powell / CC BY-SA

73 Virginis star system properties

73 Virginis 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 73 Virginis double sysyem:

6.01
6.21
0.2
0.1 arcsec

Alternative designations of 73 Virginis

73 Virginis
SAO157987
SAO157987