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Stars in Cygnus

Xi Cygni, an orange supergiant star in Cygnus

Xi Cygni is an orange supergiant star in the constellation Cygnus. At 841 light years away, it is the 371st brightest star in the Earth's sky, where it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 3.72.

Ashland Astronomy Studio Star

Xi Cygni (HIP 104060)

Xi Cygni is an orange supergiant star in the constellation Cygnus. At 841 light years away, it is the 371st brightest star in the Earth's sky, where it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 3.72. The iron abundance of Xi Cygni is -0.26 (55.0% of the Sun). It is moving through the Galaxy at a speed of 21.5 km/s relative to the Sun. Its projected Galactic orbit carries it between 22,100 and 24,100 light years from the center of the Galaxy.

Sky position: RA 21h 4.9m, Dec +43° 55.8'

Common designations: Xi Cygni, 62 Cygni, HIP 104060, HD 200905, HR 8079

Learn how to find naked-eye stars with:

Stars of the Northern Hemisphere
Deluxe Astronomy Poster Brightest stars in Cygnus:
(list all)

RankMag.Star
11.25Deneb
22.23Sadr
32.48Gienah
42.86Delta Cygni
53.05Albireo A
63.21Zeta Cygni

7

| 3.72

) Xi Cygni

RankMag.Star
83.74Tau Cygni
93.76Iota Cygni
103.80Kappa Cygni
113.80Omicron-1 Cygni
123.89Eta Cygni
133.94Nu Cygni
143.96Omicron-2 Cygni
153.98Rho Cygni
164.0141 Cygni
174.2252 Cygni
Location of Xi Cygni circled Map detail from Stars of the Northern Hemisphere
Hover over other bright stars to identify or click to jump.

Galactic Orbit of Xi Cygni

(compared to the Sun)

E

ccentricity: 4.2% vs. 16.0%

Angle φ : -171.3°vs. 26.0°

Semi-major axis : 7,091 pc vs. 8,686 pc

Semi-minor axis: 7,085 pc vs. 8,574 pc

Focus-to-center

: 299 pcvs. 1,388 pc

Semilatus rectum : 7,078 pc vs. 8,464 pc

Perigalacticon: 6,792 pc vs. 7,297 pc

Apogalacticon

: 7,390 pcvs. 10,074 pc
  Some Tabulated XHIP Data for Xi Cygni
(see also: SIMBAD)

Astrometry
2007A&A...474..653V

Position Proper Motion
Right Ascension: 316.23273265° ±0.13 mas 8.06 ±0.17 mas/yr.
Declination: 43.92785109° ±0.12 mas 0.06 ±0.14 mas/yr.
Galactic Longitude: 85.92942059° 5.43 mas/yr.
Galactic Latitude: -2.07792355° -5.95 mas/yr.

Parallax: 3.87 ± 0.16 mas

Spectrography

Spectral Type: K4:Ib- 2002ApJS..143..513G.

Radial Velocity: -19.10 ±0.48 km/s [A rating] 2005A&A...430..165F.

Iron Abundance [Fe/H]: -0.26 ±0.03 dex  2008A&A...480...91S, 2007A&A...475.1003H, 1990ApJS...74.1075M, 1982ApJ...256..177L.
 


Photometry
 
band magnitude Abs. Mag.
U
B 5.33 -1.73
V 3.72 -3.34
R
I 2.27 -4.79
J 0.98 -6.07
H 0.03 -7.03
K -0.04 -7.09

B-V: +1.61 V-I: +1.45

Derivations

Heliocentric distance: 257.87 pc (4.1% margin of error)

Galactocentric distance: 7,386 pc

Transverse velocity: 9.8 km/s

3D heliocentric position and motion:

toward:   

Galactic center Galactic rotation North Galactic Pole
Position ( X, Y, Z) 18.3 pc 257.0 pc -9.3 pc
Velocity (U, V, W) -8.0 km/s -18.8 km/s -6.6 km/s

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