Mu Aurigae (HIP 24340)

Mu Aurigae is a white star in the constellation Auriga. At 162 light years away, it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 4.82. It is moving through the Galaxy at a speed of 30.6 km/s relative to the Sun.

Sky position: RA 5h 13.4m, Dec +38° 29.1'

Common designations: Mu Aurigae, 11 Aurigae, HR 1689, HD 33641, HIP 24340, Gaia DR3 188206261484037504

Mu Aurigae has the spectral type A4m. 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.

How to find Mu Aurigae in the sky

Mu Aurigae lies in Auriga. With a declination of +38° 29.1', 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 January, which makes the weeks around that month the best time to observe it.

Tabulated data for Mu Aurigae

Astrometry and spectroscopy

Right Ascension (J2000)	78.35717510° (5h 13.4m)
Declination (J2000)	38.48449878° (+38° 29.1')
Galactic Longitude	168.35369671°
Galactic Latitude	-0.29601270°
Proper motion RA	-20.67 mas/yr
Proper motion Dec	-75.49 mas/yr
Parallax	20.10 ± 0.50 mas
Spectral Type	A4m
Radial Velocity	24.39 km/s

Photometry

Band	Magnitude	Abs. Mag.
B	5.02	1.53
V	4.82	1.34
J	4.38	0.89
H	4.39	0.91
K	4.40	0.91

Colour index B-V: +0.20

Derivations

Heliocentric distance: 49.75 pc (162 light years) (2.5% margin of error)
Absolute visual magnitude: 1.34
Transverse velocity: 18.5 km/s
Space velocity relative to the Sun: 30.6 km/s
Galactic position (X, Y, Z): -48.7 pc, 10.0 pc, -0.3 pc
Galactic velocity (U, V, W): -26.1 km/s, -6.4 km/s, -14.5 km/s

Data: Extended Hipparcos Compilation (XHIP) and SIMBAD.