Your guide to the Solar System and the night sky
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🌎  Observing from: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
🌅 Sunrise: 6:36  ☀️ Transit: 13:02  🌅 Sunset: 19:29

Porrima - γ Virginis (gamma Virginis)

Porrima, also designated as γ Virginis (gamma Virginis), is a variable and multiple hypergiant star in the constellation of Virgo.

Porrima visual magnitude is 3.65. Because of its moderate brightness, Porrima 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 Porrima:

3.65
Hypergiant
Porrima - γ Virginis (gamma Virginis) is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of Porrima

Porrima 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 Porrima are provided in the following table:

12h 41m 39s
-01° 26’ 57”
297.85°
61.33°
Virgo

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

Finder chart Porrima - γ Virginis (gamma Virginis) star
Simplified finder chart for Porrima - γ Virginis (gamma Virginis).

Visibility of Porrima from your location

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

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

Azimuth: 91.4°
Max altitude: 37.1°
Azimuth: 268.6°
Porrima - γ Virginis (gamma Virginis) is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom

Digitized Sky Survey image of Porrima

The image below is a photograph of Porrima 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 Porrima is -0.565 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and 0.012 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 1000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of Porrima - γ Virginis (gamma Virginis) star
DSS2 image of Porrima. The red arrow shows the motion of Porrima during the next 1000 years (-9.42 arcmin in Right Ascension and 0.20 arcmin in declination);

Distance of Porrima from the Sun and relative movement

Porrima is distant 38.57 light years from the Sun and it is moving towards the Sun at the speed of 20 kilometers per second.

11.83 pc
38.57 ly
-20 km/s
-0.565 arcsec/year
0.012 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of Porrima

Porrima belongs to spectral class F0 and has a luminosity class of V corresponding to a hypergiant star.

3.29
F0V
7101K

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

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

Porrima star system properties

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

3.65
3.75
0.1
4.1 arcsec

Alternative designations of Porrima

Porrima
γ Virginis
(gamma Virginis)
29 Virginis
SAO138917
SAO138917
Gl 482 A