Your guide to the Solar System and the night sky
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🌎  Observing from: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
🌅 Sunrise: 6:34  ☀️ Transit: 13:02  🌅 Sunset: 19:31

Aldhibah - ζ Draconis (zeta Draconis)

Aldhibah, also designated as ζ Draconis (zeta Draconis), is a giant star in the constellation of Draco.

Aldhibah visual magnitude is 3.17. Because of its moderate brightness, Aldhibah 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 Aldhibah:

3.17
Giant
Aldhibah - ζ Draconis (zeta Draconis) is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]. Altitude: 56°.

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of Aldhibah

Aldhibah is situated close to the northern celestial pole and, as such, it is visible for most part of the year from the northern hemisphere. Celestial coordinates for the J2000 equinox as well as galactic coordinates of Aldhibah are provided in the following table:

17h 08m 47s
+65° 42’ 52”
96.01°
35.04°
Draco

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

Finder chart Aldhibah - ζ Draconis (zeta Draconis) star
Simplified finder chart for Aldhibah - ζ Draconis (zeta Draconis).

Visibility of Aldhibah from your location

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

Aldhibah - ζ Draconis (zeta Draconis) is circumpolar and transits at 04:27 UTC (altitude: 75.8°)

Digitized Sky Survey image of Aldhibah

The image below is a photograph of Aldhibah 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 Aldhibah is -0.02 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and 0.022 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 10000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of Aldhibah - ζ Draconis (zeta Draconis) star
DSS2 image of Aldhibah. The red arrow shows the motion of Aldhibah during the next 10000 years (-3.33 arcmin in Right Ascension and 3.67 arcmin in declination);

Distance of Aldhibah from the Sun and relative movement

Aldhibah is distant 339.58 light years from the Sun and it is moving towards the Sun at the speed of 17 kilometers per second.

104.17 pc
339.58 ly
-17 km/s
-0.02 arcsec/year
0.022 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of Aldhibah

Aldhibah belongs to spectral class B6 and has a luminosity class of III corresponding to a giant star.

-1.92
B6III
11920K

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

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

Alternative designations of Aldhibah

Aldhibah
ζ Draconis
(zeta Draconis)
22 Draconis
SAO17365
SAO17365