υ Aurigae (upsilon Aurigae)

Altitude: 57.3° Azimuth: 98.9° Direction: East

υ Aurigae is a variable hypergiant star in the constellation of Auriga.

υ Aurigae visual magnitude is 4.74. Because of its moderate brightness, υ Aurigae 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 υ Aurigae:

Color of υ Aurigae ⬤

Magnitude of υ Aurigae 4.74

Class Hypergiant

VISIBILITY RIGHT NOW

υ Aurigae (upsilon Aurigae) is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.

Altitude: 57.3°
Azimuth: 98.9°
Direction: East

Celestial coordinates and finder chart of υ Aurigae

υ Aurigae 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 υ Aurigae are provided in the following table:

Right Ascension J2000 05h 51m 02s

Declination J2000 +37° 18’ 20”

Galactic Longitude 173.39°

Galactic Latitude 5.28°

Constellation Auriga

The simplified sky map below shows the position of υ Aurigae in the sky:

Finder chart υ Aurigae (upsilon Aurigae) star

Simplified finder chart for υ Aurigae (upsilon Aurigae).

Visibility of υ Aurigae 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 υ Aurigae (upsilon Aurigae) 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: 52.7° RISE 3:11

Max altitude: 75.8° TRANSIT 14:00

Azimuth: 307.3° SET 0:49

RIGHT NOW υ Aurigae (upsilon Aurigae) is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom

Digitized Sky Survey image of υ Aurigae

The image below is a photograph of υ Aurigae 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 υ Aurigae is 0.035 arcsec per year in Right Ascension and -0.047 arcsec per year in Declination and the associated displacement for the next 10000 years is represented with the red arrow.

Image of υ Aurigae (upsilon Aurigae) star

DSS2 image of υ Aurigae. The red arrow shows the motion of υ Aurigae during the next 10000 years (5.83 arcmin in Right Ascension and -7.83 arcmin in declination);

Distance of υ Aurigae from the Sun and relative movement

υ Aurigae is distant 475.22 light years from the Sun and it is moving far from the Sun at the speed of 38 kilometers per second.

Distance (parsec) 145.77 pc

Distance (light year) 475.22 ly

Heliocentric radial velocity 38 km/s

Proper Motion RA 0.035 arcsec/year

Proper Motion Dec -0.047 arcsec/year

Spectral properties of υ Aurigae

υ Aurigae belongs to spectral class M0 and has a luminosity class of III corresponding to a hypergiant star.

Absolute magnitude -1.08

Spectral Type M0III

Color Index (B-V) 1.62

Temperature of υ Aurigae 3622K

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

H-R diagram showing the position of υ Aurigae. Attribution: Richard Powell / CC BY-SA

Alternative designations of υ Aurigae

Bayer designation υ Aurigae
(upsilon Aurigae)

Flamsteed designation 31 Aurigae

Henry Draper Catalogue HD38944

SAO Catalogue SAO58496

Hipparcos Catalogue HIP27639

Durchmusterung Catalogue BD+37 1336

FK5 Catalogue 2440

General Catalogue of Variable Stars 2661

In Evidence

Other stars in Auriga