Your Guide to the Solar System and the Night Sky
This site is free and ad-free thanks to the support of our users. If you can, please consider a donation.
public Observing fromLocation: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt
north SunriseRise: 6:44  
clear_day Transit: 12:51  
SunsetSet: 18:57 south
sleep NighttimeWhat's Visible Now
All Constellations » Eridanus » 

Angetenar - τ2 Eridani (tau2 Eridani)

Altitude: -12.7°   Azimuth: 107.9°   Direction: East-South-East

Angetenar, also designated as τ2 Eridani (tau2 Eridani), is a double hypergiant star in the constellation of Eridanus.

Angetenar visual magnitude is 4.75. Because of its moderate brightness, Angetenar 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 Angetenar:

4.75
Hypergiant

Angetenar - τ2 Eridani (tau2 Eridani) is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.

Altitude: -12.7°
Azimuth: 107.9°
Direction: East-South-East

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of Angetenar

Angetenar 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 Angetenar are provided in the following table:

02h 51m 02s
-21° 00’ 15”
206.8°
-62.09°
Eridanus

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

Finder chart Angetenar - τ2 Eridani (tau2 Eridani) star
Simplified finder chart for Angetenar - τ2 Eridani (tau2 Eridani).

Visibility of Angetenar 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 Angetenar - τ2 Eridani (tau2 Eridani) 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: 111.0°
Max altitude: 17.5°
Azimuth: 249.0°

Digitized Sky Survey image of Angetenar

The image below is a photograph of Angetenar 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 Angetenar is -0.046 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.019 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 10000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of Angetenar - τ2 Eridani (tau2 Eridani) star
DSS2 image of Angetenar. The red arrow shows the motion of Angetenar during the next 10000 years (-7.67 arcmin in Right Ascension and -3.17 arcmin in declination);

Distance of Angetenar from the Sun and relative movement

Angetenar is distant 182.63 light years from the Sun and it is moving towards the Sun at the speed of 9 kilometers per second.

56.02 pc
182.63 ly
-9 km/s
-0.046 arcsec/year
-0.019 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of Angetenar

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

1.01
K0III
4970K

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

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

Angetenar star system properties

Angetenar is a visual double star which can be observed only with the help of very large telescopes. The table below shows key information about the Angetenar double sysyem:

4.75
14.95
10.2
46.7 arcsec

Alternative designations of Angetenar

Angetenar
τ2 Eridani
(tau2 Eridani)
SAO168094
SAO168094