Maia - 20 Tauri

Maia, also designated as 20 Tauri , is a variable giant star in the constellation of Taurus.

Maia visual magnitude is 3.87. Because of its moderate brightness, Maia 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 Maia:

Color of Maia ⬤

Magnitude of Maia 3.87

Class Giant

VISIBILITY RIGHT NOW Maia - 20 Tauri is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]. Altitude: 6°.

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of Maia

Maia 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 Maia are provided in the following table:

Right Ascension J2000 03h 45m 49s

Declination J2000 +24° 22’ 04”

Galactic Longitude 166.17°

Galactic Latitude -23.51°

Constellation Taurus

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

Simplified finder chart for Maia - 20 Tauri.

Visibility of Maia from your location

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

Today's Maia - 20 Tauri rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 65.6° RISE 7:50

Max altitude: 62.9° TRANSIT 16:06

Azimuth: 294.4° SET 0:22

RIGHT NOW Maia - 20 Tauri is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom

Digitized Sky Survey image of Maia

The image below is a photograph of Maia 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 Maia is 0.02 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.046 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 10000 years is represented with the red arrow.

DSS2 image of Maia. The red arrow shows the motion of Maia during the next 10000 years (3.33 arcmin in Right Ascension and -7.67 arcmin in declination);

Distance of Maia from the Sun and relative movement

Maia is distant 359.82 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 8 kilometers per second.

Distance (parsec) 110.38 pc

Distance (light year) 359.82 ly

Heliocentric radial velocity 8 km/s

Proper Motion RA 0.02 arcsec/year

Proper Motion Dec -0.046 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of Maia

Maia belongs to spectral class B8 and has a luminosity class of III corresponding to a giant star.

Absolute magnitude -1.34

Spectral Type B8III

Color Index (B-V) -0.07

Temperature of Maia 11092K

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

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

Alternative designations of Maia

Proper Name Maia

Flamsteed designation 20 Tauri

Henry Draper Catalogue HD23408

SAO Catalogue SAO76155

Hipparcos Catalogue HIP17573

Durchmusterung Catalogue BD+23 516

General Catalogue of Variable Stars 1279

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Other stars in Taurus