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: 4:52  
clear_day Transit: 12:55  
SunsetSet: 20:59 south
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All Constellations » Cancer » 

Meleph - ε Cancri (epsilon Cancri)

Meleph, also designated as ε Cancri (epsilon Cancri), is a double main-sequence star in the constellation of Cancer.

Meleph visual magnitude is 6.3. Because of its reltive faintness, Meleph 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 Meleph:

6.3
Main-sequence
Meleph - ε Cancri (epsilon Cancri) is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt. Altitude: 4°.

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of Meleph

Meleph 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 Meleph are provided in the following table:

08h 40m 27s
+19° 32’ 42”
206.06°
32.45°
Cancer

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

Finder chart Meleph - ε Cancri (epsilon Cancri) star
Simplified finder chart for Meleph - ε Cancri (epsilon Cancri).

Visibility of Meleph 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 Meleph - ε Cancri (epsilon Cancri) 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: 70.5°
Max altitude: 58.1°
Azimuth: 289.5°
Meleph - ε Cancri (epsilon Cancri) is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom

Digitized Sky Survey image of Meleph

The image below is a photograph of Meleph 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 Meleph is -0.039 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.006 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 10000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of Meleph - ε Cancri (epsilon Cancri) star
DSS2 image of Meleph. The red arrow shows the motion of Meleph during the next 10000 years (-6.50 arcmin in Right Ascension and -1.00 arcmin in declination);

Distance of Meleph from the Sun and relative movement

Meleph is distant 547.90 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 30 kilometers per second.

168.07 pc
547.90 ly
30 km/s
-0.039 arcsec/year
-0.006 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of Meleph

Meleph belongs to spectral class A8 and has a luminosity class of V corresponding to a main-sequence star.

0.17
A8V
8403K

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

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

Meleph star system properties

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

6.3
7.4
1.1
134.9 arcsec

Alternative designations of Meleph

Meleph
ε Cancri
(epsilon Cancri)
SAO98024
SAO98024