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Stars in Auriga

Delta Aurigae, an orange giant star in Auriga

Delta Aurigae is an orange giant star in the constellation Auriga. At 140 light years away, it is the 370th brightest star in the Earth's sky, where it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 3.72.

Ashland Astronomy Studio Star

Delta Aurigae (HIP 28358)

Delta Aurigae is an orange giant star in the constellation Auriga. At 140 light years away, it is the 370th brightest star in the Earth's sky, where it shines at an apparent visual magnitude of 3.72. Delta Aurigae is the primary component of a multiple-star system. The iron abundance of Delta Aurigae is -0.07 (85.1% of the Sun). It is moving through the Galaxy at a speed of 31.8 km/s relative to the Sun. Its projected Galactic orbit carries it between 19,900 and 24,300 light years from the center of the Galaxy.

Sky position: RA 5h 59.5m, Dec +54° 16.8'

Common designations: Delta Aurigae, 33 Aurigae, HIP 28358, HD 40035

Learn how to find naked-eye stars with:

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

RankMag.Star
10.08Capella
21.90Menkalinan
32.65Theta Aurigae
42.69Hassaleh
53.03Al Anz
63.18Hoedus II
73.69Hoedus I

8

| 3.72

) Delta Aurigae

RankMag.Star
93.97Nu Aurigae
104.30Pi Aurigae
114.32Kappa Aurigae
124.51Tau Aurigae
134.5416 Aurigae
144.69Lambda Aurigae
154.71Chi Aurigae
164.72Upsilon Aurigae
174.792 Aurigae
Location of Delta Aurigae circled Map detail from Stars of the Northern Hemisphere
Hover over other bright stars to identify or click to jump.

Galactic Orbit of Delta Aurigae

(compared to the Sun)

E

ccentricity: 9.9% vs. 16.0%

Angle φ : -168.5°vs. 26.0°

Semi-major axis : 6,784 pc vs. 8,686 pc

Semi-minor axis: 6,751 pc vs. 8,574 pc

Focus-to-center

: 671 pcvs. 1,388 pc

Semilatus rectum : 6,718 pc vs. 8,464 pc

Perigalacticon: 6,113 pc vs. 7,297 pc

Apogalacticon

: 7,455 pcvs. 10,074 pc
  Some Tabulated XHIP Data for Delta Aurigae
(see also: SIMBAD)

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

Position Proper Motion
Right Ascension: 89.88145972° ±0.89 mas 81.20 ±0.60 mas/yr.
Declination: 54.28498197° ±0.60 mas -126.80 ±0.70 mas/yr.
Galactic Longitude: 158.95134462° 149.65 mas/yr.
Galactic Latitude: 14.68777784° 16.64 mas/yr.

Parallax: 23.22 ± 0.91 mas

Spectrography

Spectral Type: K0IIIb 1989ApJS...71..245K.

Radial Velocity: 8.40 ±0.60 km/s [A rating] 2006AstL...32..759G.

Iron Abundance [Fe/H]: -0.07 ±0.04 dex  2011A&A...525A..71W, 1990ApJS...74.1075M.
 


Photometry
 
band magnitude Abs. Mag.
U
B 4.73 1.57
V 3.72 0.56
R 3.10 -0.06
I 2.60 -0.56
J 2.04 -1.12
H 1.52 -1.64
K 1.38 -1.78

B-V: +1.01 V-I: +1.12

Derivations

Heliocentric distance: 42.99 pc (3.9% margin of error)

Galactocentric distance: 7,439 pc

Transverse velocity: 30.7 km/s

3D heliocentric position and motion:

toward:   

Galactic center Galactic rotation North Galactic Pole
Position ( X, Y, Z) -38.8 pc 14.9 pc 10.9 pc
Velocity (U, V, W) -17.7 km/s -25.9 km/s 5.4 km/s

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