Your guide to the Solar System and the night sky
By donating now you help keep this site alive and free from ads. Please consider supporting this project.
🌎  Observing from: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
🌅 Sunrise: 6:38  ☀️ Transit: 13:03  🌅 Sunset: 19:28

Sabik - η Ophiuchi (eta Ophiuchi)

Sabik, also designated as η Ophiuchi (eta Ophiuchi), is a multiple main-sequence star in the constellation of Ophiuchus.

Sabik visual magnitude is 2.43, making it the 85th brightest star in the sky. Thanks to its high brightness, Sabik is clearly visible when observed from locations with dark skyes, and should be also quite easily visible from light polluted areas.

The table below summarizes the key facts about Sabik:

2.43
Main-sequence
Sabik - η Ophiuchi (eta Ophiuchi) is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of Sabik

Sabik 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 Sabik are provided in the following table:

17h 10m 22s
-15° 43’ 28”
6.72°
14.01°
Ophiuchus

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

Finder chart Sabik - η Ophiuchi (eta Ophiuchi) star
Simplified finder chart for Sabik - η Ophiuchi (eta Ophiuchi).

Visibility of Sabik from your location

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

Today's Sabik - η Ophiuchi (eta Ophiuchi) rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 105.7°
Max altitude: 22.8°
Azimuth: 254.3°
Sabik - η Ophiuchi (eta Ophiuchi) is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom

Digitized Sky Survey image of Sabik

The image below is a photograph of Sabik 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 Sabik is 0.039 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and 0.098 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 1000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of Sabik - η Ophiuchi (eta Ophiuchi) star
DSS2 image of Sabik. The red arrow shows the motion of Sabik during the next 1000 years (0.65 arcmin in Right Ascension and 1.63 arcmin in declination);

Distance of Sabik from the Sun and relative movement

Sabik is distant 84.09 light years from the Sun and it is moving towards the Sun at the speed of 1 kilometers per second.

25.79 pc
84.09 ly
-1 km/s
0.039 arcsec/year
0.098 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of Sabik

Sabik belongs to spectral class A2 and has a luminosity class of V corresponding to a main-sequence star.

0.37
A2V
9434K

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

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

Sabik star system properties

Sabik 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 Sabik double sysyem:

2.43
2.83
0.4
0.3 arcsec

Alternative designations of Sabik

Sabik
η Ophiuchi
(eta Ophiuchi)
35 Ophiuchi
SAO160332
SAO160332
Gl 656.1A