Your guide to the Solar System and the night sky
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🌎  Observing from: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
🌅 Sunrise: 6:34  ☀️ Transit: 13:02  🌅 Sunset: 19:31

τ6 Eridani (tau6 Eridani)

τ6 Eridani is a giant star in the constellation of Eridanus.

τ6 Eridani visual magnitude is 4.23. Because of its moderate brightness, τ6 Eridani 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 τ6 Eridani:

4.23
Giant
τ6 Eridani (tau6 Eridani) is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of τ6 Eridani

τ6 Eridani 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 τ6 Eridani are provided in the following table:

03h 46m 50s
-23° 14’ 58”
217.34°
-50.32°
Eridanus

The simplified sky map below shows the position of τ6 Eridani in the sky:

Finder chart τ6 Eridani (tau6 Eridani) star
Simplified finder chart for τ6 Eridani (tau6 Eridani).

Visibility of τ6 Eridani from your location

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

Today's τ6 Eridani (tau6 Eridani) rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 113.2°
Max altitude: 15.3°
Azimuth: 246.8°
τ6 Eridani (tau6 Eridani) is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom

Digitized Sky Survey image of τ6 Eridani

The image below is a photograph of τ6 Eridani 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 τ6 Eridani is -0.158 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.529 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 1000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of τ6 Eridani (tau6 Eridani) star
DSS2 image of τ6 Eridani. The red arrow shows the motion of τ6 Eridani during the next 1000 years (-2.63 arcmin in Right Ascension and -8.82 arcmin in declination);

Distance of τ6 Eridani from the Sun and relative movement

τ6 Eridani is distant 58.43 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 7 kilometers per second.

17.92 pc
58.43 ly
7 km/s
-0.158 arcsec/year
-0.529 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of τ6 Eridani

τ6 Eridani belongs to spectral class F3 and has a luminosity class of III corresponding to a giant star.

2.96
F3III
6776K

The red dot in the diagram below shows where τ6 Eridani is situated in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram.

HR Diagram
H-R diagram showing the position of τ6 Eridani. Attribution: Richard Powell / CC BY-SA

Alternative designations of τ6 Eridani

τ6 Eridani
(tau6 Eridani)
SAO168827
SAO168827