ν Eridani (nu Eridani)

Altitude: 23.6° Azimuth: 229.3° Direction: South-West

ν Eridani is a variable and double giant star in the constellation of Eridanus.

ν Eridani visual magnitude is 3.93. Because of its moderate brightness, ν Eridani 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 ν Eridani:

Color of ν Eridani ⬤

Magnitude of ν Eridani 3.93

Class Giant

VISIBILITY RIGHT NOW

ν Eridani (nu Eridani) is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.

Altitude: 23.6°
Azimuth: 229.3°
Direction: South-West

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of ν Eridani

ν Eridani 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 ν Eridani are provided in the following table:

Right Ascension J2000 04h 36m 19s

Declination J2000 -03° 21’ 09”

Galactic Longitude 199.31°

Galactic Latitude -31.38°

Constellation Eridanus

The simplified sky map below shows the position of ν Eridani in the sky:

Finder chart ν Eridani (nu Eridani) star

Simplified finder chart for ν Eridani (nu Eridani).

Visibility of ν Eridani 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 ν Eridani (nu Eridani) 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: 93.4° RISE 23:04

Max altitude: 35.2° TRANSIT 4:49

Azimuth: 266.6° SET 10:31

Digitized Sky Survey image of ν Eridani

The image below is a photograph of ν Eridani 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 ν Eridani is 0.002 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.005 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 100000 years is represented with the red arrow.

DSS2 image of ν Eridani. The red arrow shows the motion of ν Eridani during the next 100000 years (3.33 arcmin in Right Ascension and -8.33 arcmin in declination);

Distance of ν Eridani from the Sun and relative movement

ν Eridani is distant 586.33 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 15 kilometers per second.

Distance (parsec) 179.86 pc

Distance (light year) 586.33 ly

Heliocentric radial velocity 15 km/s

Proper Motion RA 0.002 arcsec/year

Proper Motion Dec -0.005 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of ν Eridani

ν Eridani belongs to spectral class B2 and has a luminosity class of III corresponding to a giant star.

Absolute magnitude -2.34

Spectral Type B2III

Color Index (B-V) -0.21

Temperature of ν Eridani 13831K

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

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

ν Eridani star system properties

ν Eridani is a visual double star which can be observed only with the help of very large telescopes. The table below shows key information about the ν Eridani double sysyem:

Main star magnitude 3.93

Secondary star magnitude 13.13

Magnitude difference 9.2

Separation 50.9 arcsec

Alternative designations of ν Eridani

Bayer designation ν Eridani
(nu Eridani)

Flamsteed designation 48 Eridani

Henry Draper Catalogue HD29248

SAO Catalogue SAO131346

Hipparcos Catalogue HIP21444

Durchmusterung Catalogue BD-03 834

FK5 Catalogue 169

General Catalogue of Variable Stars Nu Eri

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In Evidence

Other stars in Eridanus