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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: 7:44  
clear_day Transit: 11:48  
SunsetSet: 15:51 south
sunny DaytimeWhat's Visible Now?
All Constellations » Leo » 

87 Leonis

Altitude: -14.3°   Azimuth: 283.4°   Direction: West-North-West

87 Leonis is a giant star in the constellation of Leo.

87 Leonis visual magnitude is 4.77. Because of its moderate brightness, 87 Leonis should be easily visible from locations with dark skyes, while it can be barely visible, or not visible at all, from skyes affected by light pollution.

The table below summarizes the key facts about 87 Leonis:

4.77
Giant

87 Leonis is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.

Altitude: -14.3°
Azimuth: 283.4°
Direction: West-North-West

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of 87 Leonis

87 Leonis 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 87 Leonis are provided in the following table:

11h 30m 18s
-03° 00’ 12”
266.78°
54.07°
Leo

The simplified sky map below shows the position of 87 Leonis in the sky:

Finder chart 87 Leonis star
Simplified finder chart for 87 Leonis.

Visibility of 87 Leonis 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 87 Leonis 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: 93.0°
Max altitude: 35.5°
Azimuth: 267.0°

Digitized Sky Survey image of 87 Leonis

The image below is a photograph of 87 Leonis 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 87 Leonis is 0.022 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.014 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 10000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of 87 Leonis star
DSS2 image of 87 Leonis. The red arrow shows the motion of 87 Leonis during the next 10000 years (3.67 arcmin in Right Ascension and -2.33 arcmin in declination);

Distance of 87 Leonis from the Sun and relative movement

87 Leonis is distant 603.70 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 19 kilometers per second.

185.19 pc
603.70 ly
19 km/s
0.022 arcsec/year
-0.014 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of 87 Leonis

87 Leonis belongs to spectral class K3 and has a luminosity class of III corresponding to a giant star.

-1.57
K3III
3734K

The red dot in the diagram below shows where 87 Leonis is situated in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram.

HR Diagram
H-R diagram showing the position of 87 Leonis. Attribution: Richard Powell / CC BY-SA

Alternative designations of 87 Leonis

SAO138238
SAO138238