Your Guide to the Solar System and the Night Sky
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public Observing fromLocation: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt
north SunriseRise: 6:52  
clear_day Transit: 12:49  
SunsetSet: 18:46 south
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All Constellations » Cassiopeia » 

HR861

Altitude: 27.5°   Azimuth: 12.1°   Direction: North-North-East

HR861 is a variable and double supergiant star in the constellation of Cassiopeia.

HR861 visual magnitude is 6.24. Because of its reltive faintness, HR861 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 HR861:

6.24
Supergiant

HR861 is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.

Altitude: 27.5°
Azimuth: 12.1°
Direction: North-North-East

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of HR861

HR861 is situated close to the northern celestial pole and, as such, it is visible for most part of the year from the northern hemisphere. Celestial coordinates for the J2000 equinox as well as galactic coordinates of HR861 are provided in the following table:

02h 56m 24s
+64° 19’ 56”
135.96°
4.67°
Cassiopeia

The simplified sky map below shows the position of HR861 in the sky:

Finder chart HR861 star
Simplified finder chart for HR861.

Visibility of HR861 from your location

Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London

HR861 is circumpolar and transits at 02:33 UTC (altitude: 77.1°)

Digitized Sky Survey image of HR861

The image below is a photograph of HR861 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 HR861 is 0.006 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.002 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 100000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of HR861 star
DSS2 image of HR861. The red arrow shows the motion of HR861 during the next 100000 years (10.00 arcmin in Right Ascension and -3.33 arcmin in declination);

Distance of HR861 from the Sun and relative movement

HR861 is distant 1,278.43 light years from the Sun and it is moving towards the Sun at the speed of 22 kilometers per second.

392.16 pc
1,278.43 ly
-22 km/s
0.006 arcsec/year
-0.002 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of HR861

HR861 belongs to spectral class K3 and has a luminosity class of I corresponding to a supergiant star.

-1.73
K3I
3139K

The red dot in the diagram below shows where HR861 is situated in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram.

HR Diagram
H-R diagram showing the position of HR861. Attribution: Richard Powell / CC BY-SA

HR861 star system properties

HR861 is a visual double star which can be observed with binoculars or small telescopes. The table below shows key information about the HR861 double sysyem:

6.24
9.64
3.4
115.6 arcsec

Alternative designations of HR861

SAO12519
SAO12519