β Arae (beta Arae)

β Arae is a supergiant star in the constellation of Ara.

β Arae visual magnitude is 2.85. Thanks to its high brightness, β Arae is clearly visible when observed from locations with dark skyes, and should be also quite easily visible from light polluted areas.

The table below summarizes the key facts about β Arae:

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of β Arae

β Arae is situated south of the celestial equator, as such, it is more easily visible from the southern hemisphere. Celestial coordinates for the J2000 equinox as well as galactic coordinates of β Arae are provided in the following table:

The simplified sky map below shows the position of β Arae in the sky:

Visibility of β Arae from your location

β Arae (beta Arae) is currently not visible from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt

Digitized Sky Survey image of β Arae

The image below is a photograph of β Arae 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 β Arae is -0.008 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.025 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 10000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Distance of β Arae from the Sun and relative movement

β Arae is distant 602.59 light years from the Sun

Spectral properties of β Arae

β Arae belongs to spectral class K3 and has a luminosity class of I corresponding to a supergiant star.

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

Alternative designations of β Arae