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: 4:51  
clear_day Transit: 12:56  
SunsetSet: 21:00 south
sunny DaytimeWhat's Visible Now
All Constellations » Virgo » 

87 Virginis

87 Virginis is a variable giant star in the constellation of Virgo.

87 Virginis visual magnitude is 5.43. Because of its reltive faintness, 87 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 87 Virginis:

5.43
Giant
87 Virginis is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of 87 Virginis

87 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 87 Virginis are provided in the following table:

13h 47m 25s
-17° 51’ 35”
321.28°
43.01°
Virgo

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

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

Visibility of 87 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 87 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: 107.9°
Max altitude: 20.7°
Azimuth: 252.1°
87 Virginis is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom

Digitized Sky Survey image of 87 Virginis

The image below is a photograph of 87 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 87 Virginis is 0.059 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.034 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 10000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of 87 Virginis star
DSS2 image of 87 Virginis. The red arrow shows the motion of 87 Virginis during the next 10000 years (9.83 arcmin in Right Ascension and -5.67 arcmin in declination);

Distance of 87 Virginis from the Sun and relative movement

87 Virginis is distant 635.48 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 64 kilometers per second.

194.93 pc
635.48 ly
64 km/s
0.059 arcsec/year
-0.034 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of 87 Virginis

87 Virginis belongs to spectral class M2 and has a luminosity class of III corresponding to a giant star.

-1.02
M2III
3622K

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

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

Alternative designations of 87 Virginis

87 Virginis
SAO158165
SAO158165