Rukbat - α Sagittarii (alpha Sagittarii)
Rukbat, also designated as α Sagittarii (alpha Sagittarii), is a main-sequence star in the constellation of Sagittarius.
Rukbat visual magnitude is 3.97. Because of its moderate brightness, Rukbat 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 Rukbat:
Rukbat - α Sagittarii (alpha Sagittarii) is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom .
Altitude: -2.2°
Azimuth: 176.4°
Direction: South
Celestial coordinates and finder chart of Rukbat
Rukbat is situated south of the celestial equator, as such, it is more easily visible from the southern hemisphere. Celestial coordinates for the J2000 equinox as well as galactic coordinates of Rukbat are provided in the following table:
The simplified sky map below shows the position of Rukbat in the sky:

Visibility of Rukbat from your location
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London
Rukbat - α Sagittarii (alpha Sagittarii) is currently not visible from Greenwich, United Kingdom
Digitized Sky Survey image of Rukbat
The image below is a photograph of Rukbat 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 Rukbat is 0.03 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.123 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 1000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Distance of Rukbat from the Sun and relative movement
Rukbat is distant 169.79 light years from the Sun and it is moving towards the Sun at the speed of 1 kilometers per second.
Spectral properties of Rukbat
Rukbat belongs to spectral class B8 and has a luminosity class of V corresponding to a main-sequence star.
The red dot in the diagram below shows where Rukbat is situated in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram.
