Your guide to the Solar System and the night sky
By donating now you help keep this site alive and free from ads. Please consider supporting this project.
🌎  Observing from: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
🌅 Sunrise: 6:45  ☀️ Transit: 13:03  🌅 Sunset: 19:23

Adhafera - ζ Leonis (zeta Leonis)

Adhafera, also designated as ζ Leonis (zeta Leonis), is a variable and double hypergiant star in the constellation of Leo.

Adhafera visual magnitude is 3.44. Because of its moderate brightness, Adhafera 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 Adhafera:

3.44
Hypergiant
Adhafera - ζ Leonis (zeta Leonis) is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]. Altitude: 32°.

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of Adhafera

Adhafera 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 Adhafera are provided in the following table:

10h 16m 41s
+23° 25’ 01”
210.23°
54.95°
Leo

The simplified sky map below shows the position of Adhafera in the sky:

Finder chart Adhafera - ζ Leonis (zeta Leonis) star
Simplified finder chart for Adhafera - ζ Leonis (zeta Leonis).

Visibility of Adhafera from your location

Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London

Today's Adhafera - ζ Leonis (zeta Leonis) rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 66.6°
Max altitude: 61.9°
Azimuth: 293.4°
Adhafera - ζ Leonis (zeta Leonis) is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom

Digitized Sky Survey image of Adhafera

The image below is a photograph of Adhafera 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 Adhafera is 0.018 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.007 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 10000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of Adhafera - ζ Leonis (zeta Leonis) star
DSS2 image of Adhafera. The red arrow shows the motion of Adhafera during the next 10000 years (3.00 arcmin in Right Ascension and -1.17 arcmin in declination);

Distance of Adhafera from the Sun and relative movement

Adhafera is distant 259.55 light years from the Sun and it is moving towards the Sun at the speed of 16 kilometers per second.

79.62 pc
259.55 ly
-16 km/s
0.018 arcsec/year
-0.007 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of Adhafera

Adhafera belongs to spectral class F0 and has a luminosity class of III corresponding to a hypergiant star.

-1.07
F0III
7399K

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

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

Adhafera star system properties

Adhafera is a visual double star which can be observed with binoculars or small telescopes. The table below shows key information about the Adhafera double sysyem:

3.44
5.74
2.3
325.9 arcsec

Alternative designations of Adhafera

Adhafera
ζ Leonis
(zeta Leonis)
SAO81265
SAO81265