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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: 7:54  
clear_day Transit: 11:51  
SunsetSet: 15:49 south
sleep NighttimeWhat's Visible Now?
All Constellations » Taurus » 

Merope - 23 Tauri

Altitude: 51.3°   Azimuth: 121.8°   Direction: East-South-East

Merope, also designated as 23 Tauri , is a variable sub-giant star in the constellation of Taurus.

Merope visual magnitude is 4.18. Because of its moderate brightness, Merope 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 Merope:

4.18
Sub-giant

Merope - 23 Tauri is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.

Altitude: 51.3°
Azimuth: 121.8°
Direction: East-South-East

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of Merope

Merope 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 Merope are provided in the following table:

03h 46m 19s
+23° 56’ 53”
166.57°
-23.75°
Taurus

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

Finder chart Merope - 23 Tauri star
Simplified finder chart for Merope - 23 Tauri.

Visibility of Merope 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 Merope - 23 Tauri 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: 66.1°
Max altitude: 62.5°
Azimuth: 293.9°

Digitized Sky Survey image of Merope

The image below is a photograph of Merope 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 Merope is 0.021 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.045 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 10000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of Merope - 23 Tauri star
DSS2 image of Merope. The red arrow shows the motion of Merope during the next 10000 years (3.50 arcmin in Right Ascension and -7.50 arcmin in declination);

Distance of Merope from the Sun and relative movement

Merope is distant 359.03 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 6 kilometers per second.

110.13 pc
359.03 ly
6 km/s
0.021 arcsec/year
-0.045 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of Merope

Merope belongs to spectral class B6 and has a luminosity class of IV corresponding to a sub-giant star.

-1.03
B6IV
10941K

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

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

Alternative designations of Merope

Merope
SAO76172
SAO76172