Chara - β Canum Venaticorum (beta Canum Venaticorum)

Chara, also designated as β Canum Venaticorum (beta Canum Venaticorum), is a variable hypergiant star in the constellation of Canes Venatici.

Chara visual magnitude is 4.26. Because of its moderate brightness, Chara 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 Chara:

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of Chara

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

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

Visibility of Chara from your location

Chara - β Canum Venaticorum (beta Canum Venaticorum) is circumpolar and transits at 07:26 UTC (altitude: 79.9°)

Digitized Sky Survey image of Chara

The image below is a photograph of Chara 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 Chara is -0.705 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and 0.292 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 1000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Distance of Chara from the Sun and relative movement

Chara is distant 27.29 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 7 kilometers per second.

Spectral properties of Chara

Chara belongs to spectral class G0 and has a luminosity class of V corresponding to a hypergiant star.

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

Alternative designations of Chara