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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: 7:50  
clear_day Transit: 11:50  
SunsetSet: 15:49 south
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All Constellations » Crater » 

Alkes - α Crateris (alpha Crateris)

Altitude: 9.3°   Azimuth: 224.2°   Direction: South-West

Alkes, also designated as α Crateris (alpha Crateris), is a hypergiant star in the constellation of Crater.

Alkes visual magnitude is 4.08. Because of its moderate brightness, Alkes 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 Alkes:

4.08
Hypergiant

Alkes - α Crateris (alpha Crateris) is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.

Altitude: 9.3°
Azimuth: 224.2°
Direction: South-West

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of Alkes

Alkes 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 Alkes are provided in the following table:

10h 59m 46s
-18° 17’ 56”
269.06°
37.12°
Crater

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

Finder chart Alkes - α Crateris (alpha Crateris) star
Simplified finder chart for Alkes - α Crateris (alpha Crateris).

Visibility of Alkes 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 Alkes - α Crateris (alpha Crateris) 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: 108.3°
Max altitude: 20.2°
Azimuth: 251.7°

Digitized Sky Survey image of Alkes

The image below is a photograph of Alkes 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 Alkes is -0.46 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and 0.13 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 1000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of Alkes - α Crateris (alpha Crateris) star
DSS2 image of Alkes. The red arrow shows the motion of Alkes during the next 1000 years (-7.67 arcmin in Right Ascension and 2.17 arcmin in declination);

Distance of Alkes from the Sun and relative movement

Alkes is distant 174.24 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 47 kilometers per second.

53.45 pc
174.24 ly
47 km/s
-0.46 arcsec/year
0.13 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of Alkes

Alkes belongs to spectral class K0 and has a luminosity class of III corresponding to a hypergiant star.

0.44
K0III
4537K

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

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

Alternative designations of Alkes

Alkes
α Crateris
(alpha Crateris)
SAO156375
SAO156375