Your guide to the Solar System and the night sky
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🌎  Observing from: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
🌅 Sunrise: 6:45  ☀️ Transit: 13:03  🌅 Sunset: 19:23

Schedar - α Cassiopeiae (alpha Cassiopeiae)

Schedar, also designated as α Cassiopeiae (alpha Cassiopeiae), is a variable and multiple hypergiant star in the constellation of Cassiopeia.

Schedar visual magnitude is 2.23, making it the 69th brightest star in the sky. Thanks to its high brightness, Schedar 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 Schedar:

2.23
Hypergiant
Schedar - α Cassiopeiae (alpha Cassiopeiae) is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]. Altitude: 34°.

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of Schedar

Schedar 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 Schedar are provided in the following table:

00h 40m 30s
+56° 32’ 13”
121.42°
-6.3°
Cassiopeia

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

Finder chart Schedar - α Cassiopeiae (alpha Cassiopeiae) star
Simplified finder chart for Schedar - α Cassiopeiae (alpha Cassiopeiae).

Visibility of Schedar from your location

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

Schedar - α Cassiopeiae (alpha Cassiopeiae) is circumpolar and transits at 12:17 UTC (altitude: 84.9°)

Digitized Sky Survey image of Schedar

The image below is a photograph of Schedar 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 Schedar is 0.053 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.032 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 10000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of Schedar - α Cassiopeiae (alpha Cassiopeiae) star
DSS2 image of Schedar. The red arrow shows the motion of Schedar during the next 10000 years (8.83 arcmin in Right Ascension and -5.33 arcmin in declination);

Distance of Schedar from the Sun and relative movement

Schedar is distant 228.45 light years from the Sun and it is moving towards the Sun at the speed of 4 kilometers per second.

70.08 pc
228.45 ly
-4 km/s
0.053 arcsec/year
-0.032 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of Schedar

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

-2.00
K0III
4368K

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

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

Schedar star system properties

Schedar 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 Schedar double sysyem:

2.23
8.93
6.7
64.4 arcsec

Alternative designations of Schedar

Schedar
α Cassiopeiae
(alpha Cassiopeiae)
18 Cassiopeiae
SAO21609
SAO21609