Omega Aurigae, a white main-sequence star in Auriga
Omega Aurigae is a white main-sequence star in the constellation Auriga. At 161 light years away, it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 5.00.
Omega Aurigae (HIP 23179)
Omega Aurigae is a white main-sequence star in the constellation Auriga. At 161 light years away, it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 5.00. It is moving through the Galaxy at a speed of 26.4 km/s relative to the Sun.
Sky position: RA 4h 59.3m, Dec +37° 53.4'
Common designations: Omega Aurigae, 4 Aurigae, HR 1592, HD 31647, HIP 23179, Gaia DR3 198776553956317312
Omega Aurigae has the spectral type A1V. A-type stars are white stars with surface temperatures of roughly 7,500 to 10,000 K. Their spectra are dominated by strong hydrogen lines, and many of them rotate rapidly. Its luminosity class V means it is a main-sequence (dwarf) star, still fusing hydrogen into helium in its core like the Sun.
How to find Omega Aurigae in the sky
Omega Aurigae lies in Auriga. With a declination of +37° 53.4', it is visible from the entire Northern Hemisphere and from the Southern Hemisphere down to about latitude 52° S. Observers poleward of latitude 52° N see it as circumpolar: it never sets. It is bright enough to see with the naked eye under dark skies. It is highest in the sky at local midnight around December, which makes the weeks around that month the best time to observe it.
Tabulated data for Omega Aurigae
Astrometry and spectroscopy
| Right Ascension (J2000) | 74.81420568° (4h 59.3m) |
| Declination (J2000) | 37.89024477° (+37° 53.4') |
| Galactic Longitude | 167.15055490° |
| Galactic Latitude | -2.87683240° |
| Proper motion RA | 45.34 mas/yr |
| Proper motion Dec | -97.65 mas/yr |
| Parallax | 20.24 ± 0.11 mas |
| Spectral Type | A1V |
| Radial Velocity | 7.70 km/s |
Photometry
| Band | Magnitude | Abs. Mag. |
|---|---|---|
| B | 5.01 | 1.54 |
| V | 5.00 | 1.53 |
| J | 4.90 | 1.43 |
| H | 4.98 | 1.51 |
| K | 4.92 | 1.45 |
Colour index B-V: +0.01
Derivations
- Heliocentric distance: 49.41 pc (161 light years) (0.5% margin of error)
- Absolute visual magnitude: 1.53
- Transverse velocity: 25.2 km/s
- Space velocity relative to the Sun: 26.4 km/s
- Galactic position (X, Y, Z): -48.1 pc, 11.0 pc, -2.5 pc
- Galactic velocity (U, V, W): -12.7 km/s, -22.3 km/s, -6.2 km/s
Data: Extended Hipparcos Compilation (XHIP) and SIMBAD.