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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: 7:52  
clear_day Transit: 11:51  
SunsetSet: 15:49 south
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All Constellations » Cygnus » 

ρ Cygni (rho Cygni)

Altitude: 54.5°   Azimuth: 282.4°   Direction: West-North-West

ρ Cygni is a variable giant star in the constellation of Cygnus.

ρ Cygni visual magnitude is 4.02. Because of its moderate brightness, ρ Cygni 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 ρ Cygni:

4.02
Giant

ρ Cygni (rho Cygni) is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.

Altitude: 54.5°
Azimuth: 282.4°
Direction: West-North-West

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of ρ Cygni

ρ Cygni is situated north of the celestial equator, as such, it is more easily visible from the northern hemisphere. Celestial coordinates for the J2000 equinox as well as galactic coordinates of ρ Cygni are provided in the following table:

21h 33m 58s
+45° 35’ 30”
90.74°
-4.58°
Cygnus

The simplified sky map below shows the position of ρ Cygni in the sky:

Finder chart ρ Cygni (rho Cygni) star
Simplified finder chart for ρ Cygni (rho Cygni).

Visibility of ρ Cygni from your location

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

ρ Cygni (rho Cygni) is circumpolar and transits at 16:17 UTC (altitude: 84.1°)

Digitized Sky Survey image of ρ Cygni

The image below is a photograph of ρ Cygni 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 ρ Cygni is -0.023 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.094 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 1000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of ρ Cygni (rho Cygni) star
DSS2 image of ρ Cygni. The red arrow shows the motion of ρ Cygni during the next 1000 years (-0.38 arcmin in Right Ascension and -1.57 arcmin in declination);

Distance of ρ Cygni from the Sun and relative movement

ρ Cygni is distant 124.43 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 7 kilometers per second.

38.17 pc
124.43 ly
7 km/s
-0.023 arcsec/year
-0.094 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of ρ Cygni

ρ Cygni belongs to spectral class G8 and has a luminosity class of III corresponding to a giant star.

1.11
G8III
5023K

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

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

Alternative designations of ρ Cygni

ρ Cygni
(rho Cygni)
SAO51035
SAO51035