Xi Aurigae, a white main-sequence star in Auriga
Xi Aurigae is a white main-sequence star in the constellation Auriga. At 244 light years away, it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 4.96.
Xi Aurigae (HIP 27949)
Xi Aurigae is a white main-sequence star in the constellation Auriga. At 244 light years away, it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 4.96. It is moving through the Galaxy at a speed of 12.9 km/s relative to the Sun.
Sky position: RA 5h 54.8m, Dec +55° 42.4'
Common designations: Xi Aurigae, 30 Aurigae, 32 Camelopardalis, HR 2029, HD 39283, HIP 27949, Gaia DR3 265322639799154560
Xi Aurigae has the spectral type A2V. 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 Xi Aurigae in the sky
Xi Aurigae lies in Auriga. With a declination of +55° 42.4', it is visible from the entire Northern Hemisphere and from the Southern Hemisphere down to about latitude 34° S. Observers poleward of latitude 34° 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 Xi Aurigae
Astrometry and spectroscopy
| Right Ascension (J2000) | 88.71152891° (5h 54.8m) |
| Declination (J2000) | 55.70696671° (+55° 42.4') |
| Galactic Longitude | 157.32617365° |
| Galactic Latitude | 14.72339773° |
| Proper motion RA | -7.05 mas/yr |
| Proper motion Dec | 12.96 mas/yr |
| Parallax | 13.37 ± 0.17 mas |
| Spectral Type | A2V |
| Radial Velocity | -11.80 km/s |
Photometry
| Band | Magnitude | Abs. Mag. |
|---|---|---|
| B | 5.00 | 0.64 |
| V | 4.96 | 0.59 |
| J | 5.16 | 0.79 |
| H | 4.78 | 0.41 |
| K | 4.76 | 0.40 |
Colour index B-V: +0.04
Derivations
- Heliocentric distance: 74.79 pc (244 light years) (1.2% margin of error)
- Absolute visual magnitude: 0.59
- Transverse velocity: 5.2 km/s
- Space velocity relative to the Sun: 12.9 km/s
- Galactic position (X, Y, Z): -66.7 pc, 27.9 pc, 19.0 pc
- Galactic velocity (U, V, W): 12.5 km/s, 0.4 km/s, -3.1 km/s
Data: Extended Hipparcos Compilation (XHIP) and SIMBAD.