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Kaus Borealis - λ Sagittarii (lambda Sagittarii)

Kaus Borealis, also designated as λ Sagittarii (lambda Sagittarii), is a giant star in the constellation of Sagittarius.

Kaus Borealis visual magnitude is 2.81. Thanks to its high brightness, Kaus Borealis 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 Kaus Borealis:

Color of Kaus Borealis ⬤

Magnitude of Kaus Borealis 2.81

Class Giant

VISIBILITY RIGHT NOW Kaus Borealis - λ Sagittarii (lambda Sagittarii) is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of Kaus Borealis

Kaus Borealis 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 Kaus Borealis are provided in the following table:

Right Ascension J2000 18h 27m 58s

Declination J2000 -25° 25’ 18”

Galactic Longitude 7.66°

Galactic Latitude -6.52°

Constellation Sagittarius

The simplified sky map below shows the position of Kaus Borealis in the sky:

Finder chart Kaus Borealis - λ Sagittarii (lambda Sagittarii) star

Simplified finder chart for Kaus Borealis - λ Sagittarii (lambda Sagittarii).

Visibility of Kaus Borealis 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 Kaus Borealis - λ Sagittarii (lambda Sagittarii) 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: 115.4° RISE 23:06

Max altitude: 13.1° TRANSIT 2:42

Azimuth: 244.6° SET 6:15

RIGHT NOW Kaus Borealis - λ Sagittarii (lambda Sagittarii) is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom

Digitized Sky Survey image of Kaus Borealis

The image below is a photograph of Kaus Borealis 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 Kaus Borealis is -0.044 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.185 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 1000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of Kaus Borealis - λ Sagittarii (lambda Sagittarii) star

DSS2 image of Kaus Borealis. The red arrow shows the motion of Kaus Borealis during the next 1000 years (-0.73 arcmin in Right Ascension and -3.08 arcmin in declination);

Distance of Kaus Borealis from the Sun and relative movement

Kaus Borealis is distant 77.25 light years from the Sun and it is moving towards the Sun at the speed of 43 kilometers per second.

Distance (parsec) 23.70 pc

Distance (light year) 77.25 ly

Heliocentric radial velocity -43 km/s

Proper Motion RA -0.044 arcsec/year

Proper Motion Dec -0.185 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of Kaus Borealis

Kaus Borealis belongs to spectral class K1 and has a luminosity class of III corresponding to a giant star.

Absolute magnitude 0.94

Spectral Type K1III

Color Index (B-V) 1.04

Temperature of Kaus Borealis 4649K

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

H-R diagram showing the position of Kaus Borealis. Attribution: Richard Powell / CC BY-SA

Alternative designations of Kaus Borealis

Proper Name Kaus Borealis

Bayer designation λ Sagittarii
(lambda Sagittarii)

Flamsteed designation 22 Sagittarii

Henry Draper Catalogue HD169916

SAO Catalogue SAO186841

Hipparcos Catalogue HIP90496

Durchmusterung Catalogue CD-2513149

Gliese Catalogue Gl 713.1

FK5 Catalogue 692

In Evidence

Other stars in Sagittarius