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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: 7:43  
clear_day Transit: 11:47  
SunsetSet: 15:52 south
sunny DaytimeWhat's Visible Now?
All Constellations » Serpens » 

χ Serpentis (chi Serpentis)

Altitude: 34.2°   Azimuth: 245.0°   Direction: West-South-West

χ Serpentis is a variable hypergiant star in the constellation of Serpens.

χ Serpentis visual magnitude is 5.33. Because of its reltive faintness, χ Serpentis should be visible only from locations with dark skyes, while it is not visible at all from skyes affected by light pollution.

The table below summarizes the key facts about χ Serpentis:

5.33
Hypergiant

χ Serpentis (chi Serpentis) is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.

Altitude: 34.2°
Azimuth: 245.0°
Direction: West-South-West

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of χ Serpentis

χ Serpentis 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 χ Serpentis are provided in the following table:

15h 41m 47s
+12° 50’ 51”
21.83°
47.75°
Serpens

The simplified sky map below shows the position of χ Serpentis in the sky:

Finder chart χ Serpentis (chi Serpentis) star
Simplified finder chart for χ Serpentis (chi Serpentis).

Visibility of χ Serpentis 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 χ Serpentis (chi Serpentis) 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: 77.2°
Max altitude: 51.4°
Azimuth: 282.8°

Digitized Sky Survey image of χ Serpentis

The image below is a photograph of χ Serpentis 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 χ Serpentis is 0.04 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.003 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 10000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of χ Serpentis (chi Serpentis) star
DSS2 image of χ Serpentis. The red arrow shows the motion of χ Serpentis during the next 10000 years (6.67 arcmin in Right Ascension and -0.50 arcmin in declination);

Distance of χ Serpentis from the Sun and relative movement

χ Serpentis is distant 228.29 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 2 kilometers per second.

70.03 pc
228.29 ly
2 km/s
0.04 arcsec/year
-0.003 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of χ Serpentis

χ Serpentis belongs to spectral class A0 χ Serpentis is also a Sr chemically peculiar star.

1.10
A0
9652K

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

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

Alternative designations of χ Serpentis

χ Serpentis
(chi Serpentis)
20 Serpentis
SAO101683
SAO101683