Your Guide to the Solar System and the Night Sky
This site is free and ad-free thanks to the support of our users. If you can, please consider a donation.
public Observing fromLocation: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt
north SunriseRise: 6:55  
clear_day Transit: 12:49  
SunsetSet: 18:41 south
sunny DaytimeWhat's Visible Now
All Constellations » Orion » 

ρ Orionis (rho Orionis)

Altitude: -29.6°   Azimuth: 323.6°   Direction: North-West

ρ Orionis is a variable and multiple hypergiant star in the constellation of Orion.

ρ Orionis visual magnitude is 4.46. Because of its moderate brightness, ρ Orionis 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 Orionis:

4.46
Hypergiant

ρ Orionis (rho Orionis) is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.

Altitude: -29.6°
Azimuth: 323.6°
Direction: North-West

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of ρ Orionis

ρ Orionis 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 ρ Orionis are provided in the following table:

05h 13m 17s
+02° 51’ 39”
198.52°
-20.27°
Orion

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

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

Visibility of ρ Orionis 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 ρ Orionis (rho Orionis) 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: 87.1°
Max altitude: 41.4°
Azimuth: 272.9°

Digitized Sky Survey image of ρ Orionis

The image below is a photograph of ρ Orionis 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 Orionis is 0.001 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.006 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 100000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of ρ Orionis (rho Orionis) star
DSS2 image of ρ Orionis. The red arrow shows the motion of ρ Orionis during the next 100000 years (1.67 arcmin in Right Ascension and -10.00 arcmin in declination);

Distance of ρ Orionis from the Sun and relative movement

ρ Orionis is distant 343.52 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 41 kilometers per second.

105.37 pc
343.52 ly
41 km/s
0.001 arcsec/year
-0.006 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of ρ Orionis

ρ Orionis belongs to spectral class K0 and has a luminosity class of III corresponding to a hypergiant star.

-0.65
K0III
4328K

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

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

ρ Orionis star system properties

ρ Orionis 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 ρ Orionis double sysyem:

4.46
8.36
3.9
6.9 arcsec

Alternative designations of ρ Orionis

ρ Orionis
(rho Orionis)
SAO112528
SAO112528